England’s Potts gets Kohli before Pant leads India rally

BIRMINGHAM: Virat Kohli became the latest high-profile wicket in paceman Matthew Potts’s fledgling England career as the India star’s long wait for another Test hundred continued on Friday.

Kohli was out for 11 and India had declined to 98-5 in the delayed fifth Test at Edgbaston before Rishabh Pant counter-attacked in typical style.

Pant’s quickfire 53 not out, and an unbroken stand of 76 with fellow left-hander Ravindra Jadeja (32 not out), took India to 174-5 at tea on the opening day after they had lost the toss.

Potts only made his international debut during a recent 3-0 whitewash of Test world champions New Zealand that gave Durham team-mate Ben Stokes a resounding victory in his first series as England captain.

The 23-year-old Potts dismissed Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson three times in four innings and he struck again Friday when, following a 90-minute rain delay, he took two wickets for five runs in seven balls to reduce India to 71-4.

Potts, having earlier had Hanuma Vihari dropped in the slips, removed him with so decisive an lbw for 20 that Kohli told his partner to forget about a review.

Kohli, like Williamson one of the outstanding batsmen of his generation, had scored 27 hundreds in 101 Tests prior to this match.

But the 33-year-old has not made a century at this level since reaching three figures against Bangladesh at Kolkata in November 2019.

And that drought was extended to 32 innings when Kohli tried to leave a full-length Potts ball only to inadvertently deflect the ball onto his stumps.

James Anderson, England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker, had already marked his return after missing the New Zealand series finale with an ankle problem, by dismissing India openers Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara with the aid of slip catches by Zak Crawley.

And the 39-year-old then had Shreyas Iyer brilliantly caught down the legside by diving wicketkeeper Sam Billings, in the XI after coming in as a Covid replacement for Ben Foakes at Headingley. But the undaunted Pant charged down the pitch to drive Anderson for four and launched spinner Jack Leach for six during a 51-ball fifty featuring 30 runs in boundaries.

Friday’s match should have been played in Manchester last September only to be postponed just hours before the scheduled start because of coronavirus concerns within the India camp.

Score Board

England won the toss

India 1st Innings

Gill c Crawley b Anderson 17

Pujara c Crawley b Anderson 13

Vihari lbw b Potts 20

Kohli b Potts 11

Rishabh Pant not out 138

Iyer c †Billings b Anderson 15

Ravindra Jadeja not out 60

Extras: (b 4, lb 16, nb 9) 29

Total: 63.4 Ov (RR: 4.75) 303/5

Yet to bat: Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah (c)

Fall of wickets: 1-27, 6.2 ov, 2-46, 17.6 ov, 3-64, 22.2 ov, 4-71, 24.2 ov, 5-98, 27.5 ov

Bowling: James Anderson 19-4-52-3, Stuart Broad 15-2-53-0, Matthew Potts 14-1-72-2,Jack Leach 9-0-71-0, Ben Stokes 5.4-0-25-0, Joe Root 1-0-10-0

England Team: Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Sam Billings †, Matthew Potts, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach,James Anderson

Umpires: Aleem Dar, Richard Kettleborough