Dhoni’s gritty 82 takes India to 148

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Aug 16, 2014 at 1:30 AM

London, Aug 15:

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the fightback with a gritty 82 before India were bowled out for 148 by England shortly after tea on the first day of the fifth and the final cricket Test at The Oval here Friday.

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Earlier, Indian batsmen cut a sorry figure again after they were put in by England captain Alastair Cook.

England pacers — Chris Jordan (3/32) and Chris Woakes (3/30) were the chief destructors while James Anderson (2/51) and a fit-again Broad (2/27) put on a spirited performance to blow away the top Indian batting order.

Indian batsmen were done in by swing the England bowlers got under overcast conditions.

Besides Dhoni, only Murali Vijay (18) and Ravichandran Ashwin (13) could get to double figures.

Put in, after a delayed start due to a heavy outfield, India found themselves at the receiving end of the fury of English pacers as half the side was back in the pavilion for 36 runs in the 19th over and struggling at 43 for five at lunch.

Dhoni waged a lone battle and his valiant 82 was studded with 15 fours and a six. The India captain got support from No.11 Ishant Sharma (7 not out) as they added 58 runs for the last wicket.

Anderson removed Gautam Gambhir in the first over of the day for a duck. Gambhir decided against playing the delivery at the last moment but the ball kissed the hanging, open face and sailed through to wicket-keeper Jos Butler.

Broad, who appeared in no discomfort playing with a broken nose, struck in the next over to get rid of Cheteshwar Pujara (4) as the ball sneaked through the gap between bat and pad and clipped the top flap of his pad and kissed his arm before rattling the timber.

Chris Jordan struck in his successive overs to remove Virat Kohli (6) and Ajinkya Rahane to leave India at 28 for four.

Murali Vijay finally ran out of patience in the 19th over and fell to Chris Woakes after Joe Root took a good juggling catch at gully.

Stuart Binny (5) fell soon after the lunch break as he edged Broad to Cook in first slip.

Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (5) departed in quick succession before Varun Aaron (1) became Waokes’ third victim of the day.

(IANS)