On the opening day of the fourth Test at Rose Bowl (Southampton), the hosts England has slipped in the back foot after getting bundled out for 246 runs against the dominating Indian bowlers.

Leading the series by 2-1, English skipper Joe Root decided to bat first. Indian skipper Virat Kohli keeps the same playing XI for this Test while England skipper Joe Root made two changes – Moeen Ali and Sam Curran are in as the replacements of Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes.

England top-orders once again disappointed against the Indian pacers which disheartened hugely the hosts’ side. Among the top four batsmen, three failed to reach the double-digit scores while the experienced opener Alastair Cook managed to score only 17 runs after facing 55 balls. While all the top-four batsmen were dismissed, England was struggling on 36/4.

Bens Stokes (23) and Jos Buttler (21) tried hard to fight back but they also lost their wickets at the important periods as England was down to 86/6.

Later, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran, the comeback duo, put an important 81-run partnership for the seventh wicket that helped the hosts to put at least a respected total on the board. Ali scored 40 runs (85 balls; 2 fours and 2 sixes) while Curran batted till the end and played a brilliant knock of 78 runs off 136 balls (8 fours and only six). England was bundled out for 246 runs in 76.4 overs.

All the Indian bowlers took at least a wicket in that innings as Jasprit Bumrah led the side with three wickets (3/46). Ishant Sharma (2/26), Mohammed Shami (2/51) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/40) all bagged two wickets each while Hardik Pandya (1/51) got the only other wicket.

In reply, India was batting on 19/0 at the stump on day one. Both the openers Shikhar Dhawan (3*) and KL Rahul (11*) remained unbeaten.

Some important stats of day 1 of the Southampton Test between England and India

• Leading the Indian cricket team Test side for the 39th time, it is the first time when Indian skipper Virat Kohli unchanged his playing XI from its previous Test. While Kohli changed his playing XI for consecutive first 38 Tests, he finished just below of the former South African skipper Graeme Smith’s record who changed his playing XI for consecutive 43 Tests.
• English opener Alastair Cook played his 288th Test innings which is the second most number of Test innings for a batsman after surpassing former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid’s 287 Test innings records. Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is leading this list with 329 Test innings.
• Playing his 86th Test match, Indian pacer Ishant Sharma (251 test wickets) completed his 250 Test wickets. While he is the seventh Indian bowler and third Indian pacer to claim 250 or more Test wickets, he is also the second slowest (according to the number of Test matches) bowler to complete 250 Test wickets as the slowest record holder is former South African pacer Jacques Kallis who completed it in 127 Tests.
• Indian pacer Ishant Sharma completed his 50 Test wickets against England as he has taken 51 Test wickets against this particular opponent. Sharma is the seventh Indian bowler to claim 50 or more Test wickets against England.
• Five Indian bowlers (Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin and Hardik Pandya) have claimed ten or more wickets each in the ongoing Test series. It is the first time ever when more than four Indian bowlers have claimed ten or more wickets each in a Test series.
• England cricket team was bowled out for just 246 runs. It is their third lowest total in the first innings of a home Test match against India.
• Indian pacers have claimed a total of 46 wickets in this Test series. It is the most number of total wickets taken by the Indian pacers in a Test series against England as the previous record was 45 wickets during India’s tour of England in 2014. In overall, it is fourth most number of total wickets taken by the Indian pacers in a Test series.