England pace attack demolished the Indian batting line-up on the first day of the third Test at Headingley Leeds as they bowled out the visitors for just 78 runs. Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to bat first, however, the smiles were limited to toss only as far as the Indian camp was concerned as it was all England once the match started.
England captain Joe Root suggested that the wicket was a little tacky and was going to get better in the coming days for batting, so he wasn't really disappointed with the result of the toss and it seemed like the England team read the pitch a little better, or maybe England pacer bowled exceptional lines or Indian batter failed to apply themselves or a little bit of everything.
The wickets started falling in the first over and it just didn't stop and every over felt reminiscent of Adelaide 2020 and it kept getting tougher for the ones in the middle and the ones watching. The hero of the first two games, KL Rahul was the first one to go as the 39-year old youngster James Anderson got the ball to shape away from the bat a little after setting him up with incoming deliveries.
He had a similar plan for Cheteshwar Pujara and India's No 3 fell into the same and Buttler had two catches, Anderson's figures after three overs read 2-1. Rohit Sharma and skipper Kohli defied the storm for a little while before Anderson removed the captain and India's ship sank a little further.
Rohit looked the defiant best, almost blunting everything and Rahane gave him support for a little bit before falling at the stroke of the lunch to Ollie Robinson. Robinson didn't take much time as he got rid of Rishabh Pant soon after the break and India were 58-5.
Rohit Sharma's patience gave up and to his favorite pull shot, again. Not to square leg but mid-on, this time, however, the result was the same - his downfall. After which, it was just a matter of time. India collapsed from 67/5 to 67/9 as Craig Overton sent back Shami, the next ball.
Sam Curran from the other end, dismissed Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah in two balls and India were staring at another total of less than 70. But, Ishant Sharma's couple of boundaries ensured India moved beyond their first seven low scores in Test matches but folded for 78, their ninth-lowest score in Test matches.
Anderson, Overton ended up with three wickets each while Curran and Robinson picked up two wickets each as England after losing the toss, put on a show with the ball for the ages against a strong Indian batting line-up.
