India on top vs England in first Test as spinners star and debutant Tom Hartley gets hammered by Yashasvi Jaiswal

India’s spinners ripped through England before Yashasvi Jaiswal hammered debutant Tom Hartley as the hosts bossed a fast-moving day one of the first Test in Hyderabad.

Indian slow bowlers Ravindra Jadeja (3-88), Ravichandran Ashwin (3-66) and Axar Patel (2-33) were expected to play a crucial role in this five-match series and they reduced England to 155-7 on a turning pitch before Ben Stokes’ 70 from 88 balls, during which he was dropped on 43, propelled the tourists to 246 all out in 63.4 overs.

Hartley (0-63 from nine overs) contributed 23 from 24 balls from No 9 as he enjoyed his first experience of Test cricket but then had his left-arm spin battered after opening the bowling; thumped for six first ball by Jaiswal (76no off 70) en route to initial figures of 0-51 from six overs, shipping at least one boundary in each of those.

Score summary

England 246 all out in 63.4 overs: Ben Stokes (70); Ravichandran Ashwin (3-68), Ravindra Jadeja (3-88), Jasprit Bumrah (2-28), Axar Patel (2-33)

India 119-1 in 23 overs: Yashasvi Jaiswal (76no off 70); Jack Leach (1-24)

India closed on 119-1 from 23 overs, trailing by 127, with Jaiswal pouncing on the loose deliveries offered up by Hartley, Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed as England’s spinners proved unable to offer the threat and consistency of the home side’s trio earlier in the day.

Leach finally struck in the 13th over with the score on 80 – Rohit Sharma (24 off 27) skying to Stokes at mid-on – but Hartley’s bid to have Shubman Gill (14no off 43) lbw early in his innings came in vain as England shredded all three of their DRS reviews inside 14 overs.

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England had earlier suffered two wobbles with the bat, losing three wickets for five runs after a typically enterprising Bazball opening stand of 55 between Ben Duckett (35) and Zak Crawley (20), and then 4-34 once Jonny Bairstow (37) was bowled by a beauty from Axar following a 61-run alliance with Joe Root (29).

Stokes – who has shed a reported 10 kilograms since undergoing surgery on his left knee in late 2023 – revived his side, smoking three sixes and six fours after taking 53 balls to hit his first boundary, but India will be happier with the day with Jaiswal dishing out a dose of Bazball to England as he clobbered nine fours and three sixes.

Image: A lighter Ben Stokes top-scored for England with 70 from 88 balls, rescuing his side from 155-7 A Bazball start before India’s spinners and Stokes star

England are aiming to become the first away side since themselves in 2012 to win a Test series in India and will be aided in that quest across the first two games of the five-match contest with Indian superstar Virat Kohli absent for personal reasons.

An England batting unit shorn of Harry Brook for personal reasons, made a bright start after Stokes won the toss; Duckett bossing a partnership off 55 with Crawley inside 12 overs as the openers dealt with any wayward deliveries seamers Jasprit Bumrah (2-28) and Mohammed Siraj (0-28) offered.

Image: Ravichandran Ashwin took three wickets as India dismissed England for 246 in Hyderabad

The introduction of spin saw three wickets in the space of 21 deliveries – Duckett lbw to Ashwin’s arm ball, a jittery Ollie Pope (1), back in the side after dislocating his shoulder in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s last June, edging Jadeja behind and Crawley drilling Ashwin low to Siraj at mid-off.

Bairstow, playing as a specialist batter with Ben Foakes selected as wicketkeeper, and Root rebuilt for England, only for Bairstow’s dismissal shortly after lunch to trigger a second collapse – the right-hander bowled top of off stump by Axar.

Root departed three overs later, caught on the sweep off a Jadeja ball that bounced more than he expected, trudging off having passed Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 2,535 runs in Test matches between India and England and level with Ricky Ponting for the most runs against India in Tests (2,555).

Image: India spinner Axar Patel bowled Jonny Bairstow with a beauty at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium

When the recalled Foakes (4) edged Axar behind and Rehan (13) snicked a Bumrah slower ball through to wicketkeeper KS Bharat, England were seven down, but Hartley – principally in the side for his left-arm spin bowling from a height of 6ft 4in – and Stokes began to counter.

Stokes clinched his 31st Test fifty, from 69 balls, with the first of back-to-back sixes off Jadeja before he was last man out, bowled by a sublime in-ducker from Bumrah – Hartley and Wood (11) having earlier been bowled by Jadeja and Ashwin respectively.

Are India in the driving seat?

India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin:

“I think 240 is more than what we would’ve liked but to have someone going on and make a hundred will put us in the driving seat. I would say it went pretty well today.

“Jaiswal has walked into Test cricket and taken to it like a fish to water. He has a lot of shots and it’s serving him very well.”

Image: England opener Ben Duckett scored 35 in an opening stand of 55 with Zak Crawley in Hyderabad Duckett: Stokes will back Hartley

England opener Ben Duckett:

“On that pitch it was tricky to bat and there was consistent spin throughout the day. I thought India played well at the end there and I can’t see the pitch getting any better.

“I think it was incredible the way [Hartley] went and batted and the freedom he showed. He was positive. You know what Stokes is like, he will back him tomorrow and hopefully he gets a wicket.

“Our mantra is always looking to take a wicket and look to attack. Hopefully we can get a good lead and bowl India out.”

Follow text commentary from day two of the first Test between England and India on skysports.com and the Sky Sports App from 3.45am on Friday (first ball at 4am).