India vs England 1st Test Day 3: Root leads fightback after England collapse

Joe Root and James Anderson fought back from an England collapse with a stubborn last wicket stand on the third day of the opening Test at Trent Bridge on Friday to put them within reach of India's first innings total.

India's bowlers had put their side in a commanding position when Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar tore into the home batsmen after lunch as the host's chased India's 457 in overcast conditions in Nottingham.

England lost six wickets for 68 runs before Root and Stuart Broad provided stubborn resistance with a 78-run partnership and helped them pass the follow-on mark.

When the aggressive Broad (47) fell, followed by Liam Plunkett, tail-ender James Anderson (23 not out) joined Yorkshire batsmen Root, who remains unbeaten on 78, to take England to 352 for nine at the close of play, 105 runs behind India's first innings total.

"Great credit to the guys after tea," Root, who became the fourth-youngest England batsman to score a double century in the Sri Lanka series last month, told Sky Sports.

"Broady's innings put all the pressure back on them and a lot of credit has to go to Jimmy at the end, they have given us a great chance to get back into the match.

"Me and Jimmy have some good work to do tomorrow hopefully. The tea break broke up their rhythm, and gave us the opportunity to re-group. The way Broad came out and attacked them was fantastic."

AFTERNOON COLLAPSE

England had enjoyed a good morning with Sam Robson and Gary Ballance making half-centuries on a slow wicket that has drawn widespread criticism.

The visitors found some swing under the gloomy Nottingham sky though and it was Sharma that made the crucial breakthrough shortly after the interval to end the pair's 125-second wicket stand.

Robson (59) fell first to a marginal lbw decision, before Ballance (71) was also trapped by Sharma as he swung the ball back into the stumps, hitting him in the middle of his pad.

Ian Bell hit a feisty 25 that included six boundaries before being caught in two minds by Sharma and clipping the ball through to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Moeen Ali (14) provided some brief resistance but he was taken by surprise by a short ball from Mohammad Shami, the ball hitting his glove on its way to Shikhar Dhawan at first slip.

The lack of a video review option proved to be vital when Matt Prior was given out caught by Dhoni off Kumar for five, despite replays showing he had not hit the ball.

Kumar and Dhoni combined again to get rid of Ben Stokes for a duck to leave England in disarray as tea approached.

England's revival started when Broad raced to 47 off just 42 balls before Kumar trapped him lbw with a wicked swinging delivery.

The Indian seamer continued his sparkling form with an inswinger that sent Plunkett's (7) stumps cartwheeling out of the ground to reduce the hosts to 298-9, giving him career-best figures of 4-61 in the process.

By that stage England had ensured the visitors would have to bat again, and Root and Anderson were positive in trying to reduce their advantage when they begin their second innings, perhaps drawing inspiration from Kumar and number 11 Mohammed Shami, who put on over 100 for India's final wicket on Thursday.

EVENING SESSION

It's stumps and Englans are 352/9 in 106 overs.

There is a round of applause as England reach 350 in 105 overs.

Root and Anderson bring up their 50-run partnership. England 348/9 in 104 overs.

Anderson plays a flat tennis-like shot to frustrate the Indian bowlers. England 345/9 in 103 overs.

Root defends, defends and finally lets go with the last ball of Ishant sending it to the ropes. England 339/9 in 102 overs.

England 335/9 in 101 overs. Still six overs to go for end of day's play.

Ishant bowls a short one and Anderson tries to defend but is hit on the knuckles of his right hand. England 332/9 in 100 overs, trail by 125 runs.

Anderson makes batting look easy reverse sweeping Jadeja again for a four. England 329/9 in 99 overs.

England 324/9 in 98 overs.

Root goes after Jadeja getting 8 runs. England 320/9 in 97 overs.

England 312/9 in 96 overs.

Root tries a reverse sweep against Jadeja, fails to connect and in the bargain has hurt his hand which requires treatment.

Anderson spanks Bhuvneshwar for a four. England 310/9 in 94 overs.

James Anderson plays a reverse sweep off Jadeja to bring up England's 300. England 305/9 in 93 overs.

England 298/9 in 92 overs.

Bhuvneshwar bags his fourth wicket when he finds the gap between Plunkett's bat and pad to hit the stumps.

Liam Plunkett b Kumar 7 (21b 1x4 0x6) SR: 33.33 

Root is keeping England in the fray here with a taut 50 from 102 balls with six fours.

England 297/8 in 91 overs.

Liam Plunkett has played a shot which most top batsmen have struggled to play today hitting Shami through on the front foot. England 292/8 in 90 overs.

England 288/8 in 89 overs, still 169 runs behind and out comes the drinks.

India will be hoping to wrap the England innings quickly but Root is standing tall. England 286/8 in 88 overs. 

Runs have dried up after Broad's dismissal. England 281/8 in 87 overs.

England 281/8 in 86 overs.

Stuart Broad lbw b Kumar 47 (42b 9x4 0x6) SR: 111.90 

Virat Kohli is having a bad day in the field. Earlier he dropped a half chance from Ballance and now he could have run out Broad but missed the stumps by miles with the batsman struggling to get to his crease.

Broad launches into Ishant striking through the off twice for his ninth boundary. He races to 47.

Bhuvneshwar goes for 14 runs from his first over after India took the new ball. England 271/7 in 83 overs.

England avoid the follow-on with a thumping shot from Broad who has taken the challenge to the Indian bowlers.

India opt for the second new ball.

Root and Broad bring up the 50 partnership in 63 balls. Broad is at a run-a-ball 30. England 257/7 in 82 overs.

England 251/7 in 81 overs.

Second new ball is due now as England reach 250/7 in 80.3 overs.

A streaky shot from Broad earns him another boundary. And Root thumps Ishant through the leg so runs coming in a flurry here. England 249/7 in 80 overs.

Broad finds the gap between mid-wicket and mid-on as England are making a fightback here.

Jadeja runs through his over quickly conceding just one run. England 236/7 in 79 overs.

Shami beat Broad thrice but the batsman gets the better of the bowler finally with an attacking shot off his hips for four. England 235/7 in 78 overs.

Root looking in good touch here as he gets two boundaries off Ishant. One is driven through mid-wicket and mid-on and the next down fine leg. England 229/7 in 77 overs.

Broad plays an unorthodox shot past the bowler Shami through mid-on for four. England 221/7 in 76 overs.

England 215/7 in 75 overs.

Shami strays a bit and gets punished by Root. England 214/7 in 74 overs.

Stuard Broad comes out firing by sending Shami's first ball after tea for a boundary.

AFTERNOON SESSION

India pushed England on the back foot with Ishant Sharma bagging three wickets and Bhuvneshwar Kumar claiming two as six wickets fell between lunch and tea break on the third day of the 1st Test match at the Trent Bridge on Friday.

The hosts were reduced to 205 for 7 with Joe Root holding fort with a patient 13 and Stuart Broad on 1.

Earlier, resuming at 134 for 1 at lunch, England's wickets began to fall in a heap with Ishant leading the charge to get rid of Sam Robson, Gary Ballance and Ian Bell.

Mohammed Shami then sent Moeen Ali back before Bhuvneshwar got the wickets of Matt Prior and Ben Stokes to leave the hosts trailing by 252 runs.

England are 205/7 in 73 overs and its tea break.

England 204/7 in 72 overs.

A lovely outswinger from Bhuvneshwar and Ben Stokes is tempted to chase it towards Dhoni. England 202/7 in 71 overs.

Ben Stokes c Dhoni b Kumar 0 (2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00 

Matt Prior c Dhoni b Kumar 5 (6b 1x4 0x6) SR: 83.33

England 198/5 in 70 overs.

The ball keeps low and Moeen Ali takes his eyes away and tries to evade it but it clips his gloves and into the hands of Dhawan at first slip.

Moeen Ali c Dhawan b Mohammed Shami 14 (30b 3x4 0x6) SR: 46.66

Root has been struggling at the crease but manages two runs against Jadeja. England 197/4 in 69 overs.

Moeen Ali drives Shami twice through covers for four. Some respite for England after a couple of maiden overs. England 195/4 in 68 overs.

With the ball keeping low occasionally Bhuvneshwar has Root in some sort of problem getting two edges which fell short and also hitting him on the pad but Root had stepped out of his crease. England 187/4 in 67 overs.

Runs are hard to come by for England who are 187/4 in 66 overs.

England are 187/4 in 65 overs.

Root is lucky here as his edge flies in between second and fourth slip for a boundary. Dhoni is quick to get a third slip after that. England 186/4 in 64 overs.

Shami replaces Ishant who was showing signs of tiredness.

England 180/4 in 63 overs.

Ali gets off the mark with a straight drive through mid-off for four. England 180/4 in 62 overs.

Moeen Ali is the new batsman in. England 174/4 in 61 overs.

England 173/4 in 60 overs.

Ishant is bowling the spell of his life. He tempts Bell with an outswinger and the batsman in trying to pull his bat away at the last minute gets an edge which goes into Dhoni's gloves.

Ian Bell c Dhoni b Sharma 25 (37b 6x4 0x6) SR: 67.56 

Bell makes it look easy as he races to 25 with six fours. 

Bell gets three bounadries from Bhuvneshwar's over. England 166/3 in 59 overs.

Perfect timing from Bell as he just jabs the ball from Bhuvneshwar for four. Then flicks him down leg side and Ishant makes a mess conceding a four when there should have been three runs. Bell pulls him again for a boundary.

Ishant has been charging in and has managed to trouble Root bu h survives. England 154/3 in 58 overs.

England 154/3 in 57 overs.

Joe Root gets one low on his pads from the first ball he faces from Ishant but luckily its down the leg side. England 154/3 in 56 overs.

Ishant is on fire here as he raps Ballance right in front of the wicket. No problem there for Oxenford this time to give an LBW decision.

Gary Ballance lbw b Sharma 71 (167b 9x4 0x6) SR: 42.51

Elegant shot from Bell using his feet to push Jadeja through covers. England 150/2 in 55 overs. 

The ball seems to have gone out of shape and will be changed which could upset Ishant who was beginning to bowl well.

Ishant induces an edge from Ballance but the ball pops over the slip cordon for four. England 146/2 in 54 overs.

Jadeja keeps Ballance and Bell quiet by conceding a single. England 142/2 in 53 overs.

Good maiden over from Jadeja to Bell. England 139/2 in 51 overs.

In walks in Ian Bell and welcomes Ishant with a spanking four down mid-wicket. England 139/2 in 50 overs.

Ishant strikes with his first over after lunch although it looked like Robson had got an inside edge to it, but replays show no edge and it was going on to hit stumps.

Sam Robson lbw b Sharma 59 (142b 8x4 0x6) SR: 41.54

Ballance gets two runs off Jadeja's first over after lunch. England 133/1 in 49 overs.

Ballance and Robson are back in the middle as Dhoni gathers the players for a huddle. They will have to come up with something to break this partnership.

MORNING SESSION

Gary Ballance and Sam Robson hit half centuries to guide England to 131 for 1 against India at lunch on the third day of the first Test at Trent Bridge on Friday.

The two batsmen have put on 122 runs so far for the second wicket to stabilise the England innings after they lost their skipper Alastair Cook cheaply on Thursday.

Both batsmen were unbeaten on 59. The hosts still trail India by 326 runs after resming at 43 for 1.

Robson flicks Shami off his pads for four. England 131/1 in 48 overs. And its lunch.

There is a loud appeal for LBW as Jadeja spins one viciously across and Ballance is caught off-balance but its turned down but umpire Dharmasena as it looked like it was pitched outside off-stump. England 123/1 in 47 overs.

Binny finally keeps it to just a single as England are 121/1 in 46 overs.

England 120/1 in 45 overs. 

Robson too gets to his 50 guiding Binny through slips and third man for a four. England 118/1 in 44 overs.

Jadeja concedes a single. England 113/1 in 43 overs.

A similar shot from Ballance and it brings up the 100 parternship between him and Robson. England 112/1 in 42 overs.

Ballance looking in good nick as he clips Binny through point region for four to get to his 2nd fifty in four Test matches.

England 103/1 in 41 overs.

A flurry of fours has taken Ballance to 46 while Robson bats on 43. England 101/1 in 40 overs.

Ballance plays a superb stroke against Binny through mid-off to bring up England's 100.

Jadeja races through his over with a maiden against Robson in which there was an outside chance but Kohli dropped what looked like a tough catch at leg slip. England 96/1 in 39 overs.

Ballance races to 41 with three fours from Ishant's over.

Ballance goes on the back foot to thump Ishant through point. And in the next ball plays him on the leg side for another boundary. England 96/1 in 38 overs.

Ballance picks the length from Ishant, who comes round the wicket, well and just pulls him over mid-wicket for four. 

Virat Kohli seems a little frustrated standing at point doing nothing and when the ball does come to him he ends up with an overthrow. England 84/1 in 37 overs.

Ballance is hit on the pad by Ishant but it looks like pitching down leg side. England 80/1 in 36 overs.

A run finally after 15 balls as Ballance dabs one to mid-on. England 78/1 in 35 overs, adding only 5 runs runs in the last 5 overs. Of course this is Test match, not T20.

Robson survives after playing a defensive shot with the ball just bouncing over the wicket. England are 77/1 in 34 overs.

The left-arm off-spinner begins with a maiden. There is turn and bounce which should give Dhoni something to think about by brining in some close fielders. England 77/1 in 33 overs.

It's going to be spin after the drinks break as Ravindra Jadeja is introduced.

One hour of play has just gone by on the third day and it's time for drinks break. England are 77/1 in 32 overs trailing India byl 380 runs in the first innings.

Robson gets an outside edge which beat all three slip fielders but before it can travel to the ropes it is stopped by Pujara. Three runs for Robson who moves to 23. England 77/1 in 32 overs.

Bhuvneshwar varies his pace and keeps Robson guessing as Dhoni is up standing at the wicket. Maiden over. England 73/1 in 31 overs.

Ballance hits down the long on area for two and Robson clips Ishant for a single as England are 73/1 in 30 overs.

Loud appeal there from the Indians as Bhuvneshwar raps Robson on the pads but its going down leg side and the batsmen take a single. England are 70/1 in 29 overs.

Ishant concedes only a single as England are 69-1 after 28 overs

Dhoni makes his first bowling change of the morning bringing in Ishant Sharma to replace Shami.

England are 68 for 1 after 27 overs.

Shami has been drifting down leg side onto Robson's pads and the batsman is all too happy to guide it to the boundary.

England are 63 for 1 after 25 overs.

The 50 partnership comes up between Ballance and Robson.

Back-to-back boundaries for Robson against Shami. First he spanks the bowler through the cover region for four and then sweetly-times him through mid-wicket for another boundary.

Ballance thumps Bhuvneshwar off his toes for a single to backward square-leg to bring up the 50 for England in 22 overs.  England 50/1 in 22 overs.

Shami too keeps it tight with a maiden over.

Bhuvneshwar bowls a tight over getting a maiden against Ballance.

Play about to begin on Day 3 in a few minutes at the Trent Bridge with Sam Robson and Gary Ballance at the crease.

England will be batting to avoid the follow-on when play resumes on day three of the first Test against India at Trent Bridge on Friday.

The hosts trail by 414 runs with nine wickets remaining after making a stuttering to 43-1 in reply to India's 457.

Alastair Cook's torrid form continued as England's under-pressure captain was bowled off his thigh pad for five.

India's 457 included a 111 partnership between Bhuvneshwar Kumar and number 11 Mohammed Shami - a last-wicket record for India against England.

Cook, whose team have lost six of their last seven Tests, has now scored only 606 runs in his last 13 Tests at an average of 24.24.

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