ENG vs IND: Shardul Thakur's blitz helps India get to 191 as Chris Woakes picks up four wickets

It was a day for the comeback men both for India and England as Shardul Thakur salvaged a sinking Indian innings blasting 57 runs off just 36 balls to help them get to 191 after the visitors were reeling at 127/7 with all their main batsmen back in the shed. And for England, it was Chris Woakes taking four wickets in the innings and played a major part in England bowling the opposition out early.

We bowl India out for 191 in the first innings 

Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/HBX3tgrqlr

#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/VTdW25bXfU

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 2, 2021

England sent in India to bat first but Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul took the aggressive approach from the start as they raced off to 28 in just seven overs. However, after those seven overs, a period of lull followed as in the next seven overs, not a single run was scored and the tourist lost both their openers in that period.

From 28/0 in seven overs, India went to 28/1 (8.6) and 28/2 (13.5) as the hosts' decision to bowl first after winning the toss had started to prove right. Woakes started the wickets procession for England getting the big wicket of Rohit Sharma, after which the likes of Ollie Robinson, James Anderson chipped in.

India surprised everyone by promoting Ravindra Jadeja ahead of vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane but that move didn't work as Jadeja went quickly after the lunch break.

Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane stemmed the wicket-flow for a little while and Kohli notched up his second half-century of the series. But before tea, both of them were removed and India were staring at another low score finish before Shardul Thakur gave them a booster shot.

Thakur smashed Woakes, Robinson, Overton all over the park as he slammed the fastest-ever fifty in England, off just 31 balls giving India much-needed runs and the momentum.

Shardul Thakur now has the fastest ever Test fifty in England (by balls).

31 - Shardul Thakur v ENG, today
32 - Ian Botham v NZ, 1986
33 - Clifford Roach v ENG, 1933
33 - Kapil Dev v ENG, 1982
33 - Harbhajan Singh v ENG, 2002
33 - Stuart Broad v WI, 2020#ENGvIND

— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) September 2, 2021

Thakur was eventually dismissed by Woakes as his fourth wicket as India were all out for 191 in their first innings.