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England 199-5 (97 ovs) vs India

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja made a promising debut, taking two for 34 in 25 overs. Ishant Sharma also made good use of the uneven bounce on the pitch to claim two for 32 in 19 overs.

Pragyan Ojha bowled the highest number of overs, to concede 50 runs in 27 overs.

R Ashwin was once again ineffective with the ball, for 32 runs in 13 overs, while Chawla claimed one for 39 in 13 overs.

A disappointing day for India overall as England's batsman managed to get close to 200 runs on a pitch, which will increasingly get difficult for batting as the match progresses.

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England 199-5 (97 ovs) vs India

India must be ruing let the initiative slip as they got just one wicket in the post tea session, with England scoring 66 runs in 32 overs.

It seemed that India were content in drying out the runs and forcing the batsmen into mistakes. They bowled a total of 32 maiden overs out of 99 overs bowled in the day, which meant nearly one-third of the overs were maiden.

England managed just 21 boundaries in the day, out of which 10 were hit by Kevin Pietersen alone, who played a patient knock of 73 from 88 balls. Trott also played a good hand with the bat, scoring 44.

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England 199-5 (97 ovs) vs India

England finish the opening day on 199 for five after 97 overs at stumps on the opening day.

Prior and Root rescued the visitors with a vital unbroken stand of 90 runs from 29.3 overs after they were reeling at 139 for five at one stage.

Debutant Root was particularly impressive, as he made 31 not out from 110 balls, with just one boundary. Prior also used his utility with the ball, with a composed innings of 34 from 83 balls, having hit three fours.

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England 188-5 (90 ovs) vs India

India's over rate has been quite superb. They have completed the daily quota of 90 overs and there are still 30 minutes of play left in the day. They could complete 100 overs on Day 1 and that would be some achievement!

England have reached 188 for five in 90 overs.

The visitors were struggling at 139 for five at one stage before Root and Prior rescued them with 49-run stand.

Here is a picture of England debutant Joe Root as a kid. This picture was posted on Twitter by his father Matt Root.

"Congratulations son on your first test appearance!" Matt writes on Twitter.

And his son Joe is certainly doing a good job so far, having battled his way to 28 from 79 balls on a tough wicket for batsmen.

England are 186 for five after 88 overs with Matt Prior on 25.

Prior and Root have steadied the innings with a patient partnership of 47 runs in 20.3 overs.

A long drinks break as the Indians sit down in a group while Dhoni heads into the pavilion briefly.

India's over rate has been fantastic. With 50 minutes left till close to play, they have already completed 83 overs. Pacer Ishant has bowled 16 overs of them, while the rest have been bowled by the four spinners between them.

India's two left-arm spinners, Jadeja and Ojha, have bowled majority of the overs. They have bowled 22 overs each so far for a total of 44 overs between them out of 83 overs.

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England 166-5 (82 ovs) vs India

Matt Prior and Joe Root holding out bravely out in the middle, while India are content to dry up the overs without bothering much about the wickets.

Finally, Ojha comes back and he replaces Jadeja, who has bowled a long spell. Root drives Ojha through the cover region to pick up two runs in that over.

R Ashwin comes back from the other end and he gives two singles in that over.

Ashwin and Ojha bowling in tandem now as Prior and Root look to be playing for stumps with still an hour to go with just nine overs left in the day to be bowled to complete the quota of 90 overs.

Nagpur-based businessman Om Prakash Mundra can be called as one of the biggest fans of the Indian cricket team. He is an ever present figure in all the international matches that India plays in the last few years and has also visited a couple of Olympic Games.

Check out his message for the Indian team in Nagpur.

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England 156-5 (75 ovs) vs India

Matt Prior smashes Chawla through the covers for his first boundary, the first after seven overs as India continue to dry up the runs.

Jadeja continues to bowl the majority of overs for India as his figures as of now ready 21-11-32-2.

Ishant comes back into the attack, but no signs of Ojha and Ashwin yet.

England crawl to 156 for five after 75 overs at just over two runs per over.

Have you ever seen a more boring day of Test cricket?

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England 142-5 (68 ovs) vs India

There were so many question marks over Jadeja's inclusion in the Test side, but so far he has done a good job, taking two for 29 in 18 overs. And all this while, India's premier spinner R Ashwin has been a mute spectator, bowling just eight overs.

And once again Pietersen has fallen to a left-arm spinner. He has fallen to left-arm spinners 26 more times in 93 innings since then!

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England 142-5 (68 ovs) vs India

India get the wicket of Pietersen immediately after the tea break. The right-hander tried to play it across the line on the leg side but ended up getting caught by Ojha at midwicket, who held on to a good low catch.

Pietersen played a sensible innings of 73 from 188 balls, having hit 10 fours, but his wicket has put the pressure back on England now.

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England 139-4 (67 ovs) vs India

Part-timer Jadeja to open the bowling after the tea break.

Pietersen starts off the session in style as he smashes Jadeja for a boundary through the point region off the first ball of the session.

Root picks Chawla for a single to the point region before Pietersen drives it down to long-on for two runs.

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England 133-4 (65 ovs) vs India

Pietersen is batting on 68 from 178 balls, having stayed at the crease for 193 minutes and hit nine boundaries. This could easily be his slowest half-century in Test cricket and he has had to show a great deal of patience and application to score runs on this track.

England scored 72 runs in 32 overs (out of which 13 were maiden overs) for the loss of two wickets in the post lunch session.

Ishant was very effective on the uneven pitch with two for 25 in 14 overs, while Jadeja (1 for 22) and Chawla (1 for 25) claimed a wicket each.

Surprisingly, Ashwin was not used much having bowled just eight overs, while part-timer Jadeja bowled 16 and Ojha got 19 overs.

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England 133-4 (65 ovs) vs India

Root off the mark in some style as he drives a full delivery from Chawla through the covers for three runs for his first runs in Test cricket. With five minutes to go for lunch, India will be looking to claim another wicket.

Root is looking as confident as any England batsman we have seen today. He flicks Ojha on the leg side for two before punching the next delivery square on the off-side for his first boundary in Tests.

While Bell struggled to one from 28 balls, Root has already got 10 from 11 balls.

England have reached 133 for four in 65 overs at the tea break on Day 1.

The attendance for Day 1 of the Nagpur Test has been disappointing to say the least. A large number of school students have turned up and have been generous and vocal in their applause of Pietersen, who has played some exquisite shots on a difficult wicket.

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England 119-4 (61 ovs) vs India

Ian Bell struggle ends finally. And Chawla gets his first wicket on his comeback as Bell is caught at short extra cover by Kohli for a painful knock for one from 28 balls.

It was Chawla's first over of his new spell and he gets a wicket to lift India's morale.

Pietersen is still standing strong on a sparkling innings of 64 from 164 balls and nothing seems to be bothering him.

Debutant Joe Root walks out to bat and this will be a big test for him to bat on this slow and low wicket.

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England 112-3 (56 ovs) vs India

Ian Bell is the new batsman but once again captain Dhoni is found wanting with his field placings. No close in fielders for the new batsman with just one slip and the field well spread around but no silly point or short leg. Ridiculous captaincy!

In the next over Pietersen flicks Ojha through midwicket where Chawla fails to stop and it goes for a boundary.

Pietersen keeps the boundaries coming as he lofts Ojha over the off-side fielder for a four, his ninth of the innings to take his score to 61.

He is making the difference with the bat on a pitch where every other batsman has struggled with the uneven bounce.

Ian Bell is watchful at the start for one from 15 balls as Jadeja bowls another maiden over.

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England 102-3 (49.4 ovs) vs India

Finally, against the run of play India strike with the wicket of Trott. And it is Jadeja who gets a wicket on his debut as Trott is bowled for a patient knock of 44 from 133 balls, having hit seven fours.

Trott offered no stroke but Jadeja foxed him with the arm delivery that came in sharply and crashed into the off-stump.

Trott and Pietersen helped England rally after the two early wickets with a 86-run partnership from 39.1 overs for the third wicket.

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England 101-2 (49 ovs) vs India

Debutant Jadeja comes back for a new spell but the same old result. He starts off with a maiden over as Pietersen is content to play out the over. Ojha follows up with another maiden over to Trott before Jadeja does the same next up as India string three maiden overs in a row.

Trott breaks the sequence of maiden overs as he sweep Ojha through the square leg region for a boundary to take England past the 100-run mark in the 49th over.

Former India spinner Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Nagpur pitch and also India captain MS Dhoni.

"Another disgraceful pitch in Nagpur-Indns may've to pay fr myopic strtgy- Dhoni welcome dig own grave-why take Indn crkt along?BCCI silent?!" he writes on Twitter.

Aakash Chopra is unhappy with how Ashwin has bowled today. "Today yet to see an Ashwin over in which he's bowled all six balls in and around the same area...similar lines/similar lengths!!!" he writes on Twitter.
 

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England 97-2 (44 ovs) vs India

Ishant bowled a four-over spell after lunch before Ojha replaces him. He gets one to turn sharply beating Pietersen outside the off-stump. The next ball is a bit fuller and Pietersen wristly steers it past point for three runs. 91-2 (43 overs)

Ashwin then gets one to turn sharply as Pietersen edges it on the leg side which evades keeper Dhoni for a boundary to bring up the right-hander's half-century from 108 balls. Once again, KP has come up with a vital knock in times of crisis.

His sparkling hundred on a difficult wicket in the second Test at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai literally around England's fortune in the series.

This was Pietersen's 29th half-century in Tests and sixth against India.

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England 84-2 (41 ovs) vs India

Sharma bowls a short ball which again hardly gets up and Pietersen waits for it before pulling it to leg side for one. Trott then looks it flick it on the leg side as it just goes over the fielder at short midwicket for another single and Pietersen gets one on the leg side to end the over.

Ashwin is again struggling with the ball, no turn at all so far. Pietersen defends the first two balls before getting a single to the leg side and Trott plays three dot balls to end the over.

Pietersen is watchful at the start of Ishant's next over before driving it down the ground where Chawla makes a good diving stop at mid-on to stop a certain boundary. However, Pietersen finds the gap off the next delivery as he crashes it through the covers for a boundary to move to 43.

England scoring at just over two runs per over as they reach 84 for two in 41 overs.

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England 76-2 (38 ovs) vs India

Ashwin starts proceedings after the lunch break. KP defends the first ball with a confident forward defensive shot, while turning the next ball on the leg side. He gets a single from the lat ball of that over.

Sharma bowls the second over after the break. The first ball stays a bit low as KP defends before turning the next ball fine on the leg side for two runs and two balls later he flicks it through midwicket for a boundary.

Ashwin follows up with a maiden over as Trott is content to defend.

India getting more and more defensive. No slip fielders in place but two short midwicket fielders in place with two fielders on the boundary on the leg side. Sharma tries to bowl a bouncer as Trott tries to duck before realising the ball is not getting up and at the late moment plays the late cut for a singel to the thirdman region.
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Trott then makes full use of a half volley from Ashwin as he strokes it through the covers for a boundary as England continue to make good progress after the lunch break.

The two batsmen also brought up the 50-run partnership for the third wicket from 145 balls in 81 minutes.

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England 61-2 (33 ovs) vs India

A good recovery from England after the two early wickets in the morning session. Pietersen adopted a positive approach for 28 from 75 balls, while Trott made exactly the same score from 83 balls with the duo hitting four boundaries each during their unbroken 45-run stand from 22.3 overs.

India were ultra-defensive in the morning session with a well spread out field and not many close-in fielders.

Ishant was the best bowler for India as he took two for nine in eight overs with the variable bounce aiding him a great deal.

Ojha opened the bowling to give away 14 runs in 10 overs and surprise pick Ravindra Jadeja hardly made an impact with the ball for eight lacklustre overs for 19 runs.

Piyush Chawla also failed to do anything at all during his five-over spell for 14 runs, while R Ashwin bowled just two overs.

The pitch is totally dry and full of cracks and already doing things on the first day. England would be looking to survive the day and get a score of around 300 in the first innings. It would be nearly impossible to bat in the fourth innings on this wicket as the match progresses and the cracks widen.

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England 61-2 (33 ovs) vs India

India's over rate has been excellent and with so many overs of spin it is not a surprise.

Finally, R Ashwin comes into the attack as Dhoni calls him to bowl the 30th over. Trott sweeps the second ball on the leg side for one and Pietersen drives the fourth ball to long-on for another single.

Trott sweeps the last ball fine for a couple as England continue to rebuild.

Ishant Sharma comes back for his second spell, a few minutes before the lunch break. KP defends the first ball and he inside edges the next ball as Ishant starts his new spell with another maiden and Ashwin does the same.

Ishant gets another ball to stay low as KP defends it somehow getting his bat down just in time. He gets the toe end of the bat off the next ball as it goes on the off-side for another single.

Ishant then tries a bouncer which barely bounces Trott who ducks under and it goes on the bounce to Dhoni. The last ball also goes on the bounce to Dhoni.

A dramatic first session as England scored just 61 runs in 33 overs, losing two wickets in the process.

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England 53-2 (26 ovs) vs India

Pietersen breaks the shackles as he takes the attack to Chawla. The England right-hander lofts Chawla over mid-on for a boundary and repeats the shot two balls later for another boundary.

A single to the covers from the last ball get England nine runs from that over. A welcome change for everyone watching as England had struggled to 11 runs from the previous ten overs before that Chawla over.

Pietersen strokes Jadeja through the covers for another boundary to take England past the 50-run mark, in the 26th over.

Trott is batting on 26 from 61 balls and KP on 26 from 55 balls and the partnership is 37 from 93 balls.

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England 37-2 (23 ovs) vs India

Piyush Chawla comes on to bowl. Trott defends the first ball before taking a single on the leg side from the second delivery. Pietersen flicks the third ball to midwicket and the next ball again on the leg side and defends the last two balls to end the over.

Change of ends for Jadeja as R Ashwin is yet to bowl in the innings. Wonder why?

He continues to bowl tight with another maiden over. India building the pressure by drying up the runs and hoping Pietersen will commit a mistake.

England get just a single in Chawla's next over as Pietersen drives down the ground to long-off for just one run in that over.

England have scored just 11 runs in the last 10 overs.

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England 35-2 (20 ovs) vs India

Ojha has a huge appeal for LBW against Trott turned down by umpire Dharmasena, he has been under pressure early on. The right-hander then charged down the wicket to Jadeja and drove him down the ground for a boundary.

India keeping things tight as three maiden overs follow with England's score on 35 for two after 20 overs.

Ojha has conceded just 14 runs from his ten overs as Piyush Chawla replaces Jadeja from the Pavilion End.

The attendance at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Jamtha on the outskirts of Nagpur is not very encouraging. All of the stands are nearly empty.

Also the fact that the stadium is located 16 kms away from the city could be one of the reasons that the local public has stayed away.

The best part is that a lot of school children have come in to watch the game.

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England 31-2 (14 ovs) vs India

Ishant has bowled a good first spell of two wickets for eight runs in six overs.

Debutant Ravindra Jadeja into the attack now. Three specialist spinner and Dhoni calls part-timer Jadeja into the attack ahead of R Ashwin and

Piyush Chawla.

Maybe it is just to play on Pietersen's mind who has had this certain weakness against left-arm spinners.

Pieteresen defends the first ball to the covers before flicking the next ball to deep midwicket for three runs. Pietersen on the attack against

Jadeja as he steps down the track and lofts it straight down the ground for a four.

Ojha continues from the City End, as he comes on to bowl his seventh over. Trott sweeps it past the short fine leg fielder for a boundary, his third to take his score to 16.

13 runs have come from the last two overs as England reach 31 for two after 14 overs.

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England 16-2 (11 ovs) vs India

Ishant has struck with the big wicket of Alastair Cook, who has been dismissed leg before wicket for one.

Poor umpiring from Dharmasena again. Once again, the ball seemed to have stayed low as Cook tried to defend an outgoing delivery which clearly struck him outside the off-stump but he was given out LBW. Unbelievable decision!

Two big blunders from Dharmasena. First Trott survived a close shout that looked to be out and then Cook was unlucky to be given out!

England in trouble at 16 for two after 10.3 overs.

Ishant then attempts to bowl a bouncer to new batsman Kevin Pietersen who looks to defend but the ball hardly gets off the track as it hits low on the bat. He pulls the last ball on the leg side for one to get off the mark.

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England 12-1 (9 ovs) vs India

Cook has made 1 from 17 balls yet Dhoni is ultra defensive against him with a 7-2 leg side field for Ojha. The ploy is not to allow Cook to play the drive through the covers with Ojha bowling straight and a heavily packed leg side including three fielders on the boundary, at deep midwicket, square leg and fine leg. India are hoping Cook will get frustrated and make a mistake but so far he continues to bat with a patience and plays out a maiden over from Ojha as England crawl to nine for one after eight overs.

Trott flicks the first ball from Ishant's fifth over fine on the leg side for two runs. There is a huge appeal for LBW against Trott, who is struck in front of the stumps with a delivery that stayed low and came in sharply. A huge appeal that seemed on to go on forever but Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena is not interested. A huge reprieve for Trott (5), who might have got the benefit of doubt with the umpire considering whether he was struck outside the off-stump.

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England 9-1 (7 ovs) vs India

Cook gets off the mark with a single to deep midwicket off Ojha, from the 15th ball he has faced today. A few balls later Trott takes a quick single to Chawla at mid-on

Trott gets the first boundary of the day, driving a full delivery from Ishant back past the bowler for a delightful four. The next ball stays low and goes on the bounce to keeper Dhoni and defends the last three balls to fielders on the off-side.

A good start from India, an early wicket and they have kept it really tight by not conceding too many runs.

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England 3-1 (5 ovs) vs India

Ishant has struck early as Compton is caught behind by Dhoni for three. A short of length delivery outside the off-stump as Compton gets a thin outside edge and is caught behind the wicket. That didn't look like a lethal delivery at all, just a little mistake from Compton and he was gone.

India will be delighted with that early and they will look to get Cook too!

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England 4-0 (3 ovs) vs India

Compton taps Ishant on the leg side for one before Cook continues to bat with patience and plays out the remaining five deliveries from the Ishant over, who seems to be getting nothing from the new ball.

Compton started nervously in the series but has been looking quite confident in the last couple of Test matches. Here again, he is showing good footwork against Ojha, getting his feet to the pitch of the delivery and play with the spin.

Once again, he takes a quick single from the last ball of that over.

This is the 2066th match in the history of Test cricket.

Veteran cricket writer and commentator Ayaz Memon gives his views on the pitch:

"Given the cracks already visible on the pitch, playing three spinners was inevitable. Kapil says resembles Melbourne track -on 4th&5th days!," he writes on Twitter.

India need to get Alastair Cook out early if they want to push England on the backfoot. Here is why:

"Cook has batted for 26 hours 5 minutes in the series. The total duration of Indian innings in the series is 35 hours 20 minutes!" Rajneesh Gupta writes on Twitter.

Here is another gem from Rajneesh Gupta: "Ravindra Jadeja was not even one year old (344 days only) when Sachin Tendulkar made his Test debut!"

Prem Panicker gives his views on the state of affairs in Indian cricket.

"I thought there were only two ways selectors could go: forward or back. What did I know? Everything just went sideways."

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England 1-0 (2 ovs) vs India

Ishant Sharma to bowl the first over. Alastair Cook on strike. The England captain is watchful to begin with as Sharma bowls a quiet first over.

Pragyan Ojha to bowl the second over. Just a slip and short cover in place. Compton defends the first ball to Kohli at short cover and the next on the leg side. He steps down the wicket off the third wicket and taps it mid-on before sprinting across for a quick single to get England off the mark.

Captain Dhoni defensive right from the start. Cook has a slip and leg slip in place with a a fielder on the midwicket boundary and fine leg boundary. The left-hander defends the last three balls to end the second over.

England have made two changes to their team. Tim Bresnan replaces fellow pacer Steve Finn, who was ruled out because of injury.

All-rounder Joe Root makes his Test debut as he is picked ahead of Samit Patel, who failed to impress in the first three Tests.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma.

England: Alastair Cook (captain), Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Monty Panesar.

England captain Alastair Cook has won the toss and elected to bat against India in the fourth and final Test.

The visitors are leading 2-1 in the series and will looking to continue their good run in the series.

The pitch looks completely dry and has a lot of cracks which means the spinners will get a lot of assistance.

India are playing three spinners in R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla. Ishant Sharma is the lone fast bowler as India leave out both Ashok Dinda and Parvinder Awana.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who recently scored two triple centuries in Test cricket, makes his Test debut.

Chawla replaces Zaheer Khan, who was dropped after the third Test, while Jadeja comes in for Yuvraj Singh.

India look set to play three spinners in off-spinner R Ashwin, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla.

Ishant Sharma will be the lone fast bowler.

Also there are strong indications that Ravindra Jadeja may also make his Test debut which means Ajinkya Rahane misses out yet again.

India face a do or die battle in the the fourth and final Test against England, in Nagpur, on Thursday.

The hosts 1-2 in the four-match series and need a victory to draw the series.

On the other hand, England are looking good to win their first series in India in 27 years with their last victory coming here in 1984-85.

India last lost a home series in 2004 when they were beaten 2-1 by Australia.