After a thrilling contest, England defeated India by 31 runs to win the first Test at Edgbaston. The star of the day remained Ben Stokes, who not only took 3 wickets but also dismissed India skipper Virat Kohli. Needing 5 wickets to win on the 4th day, England kicked off strongly with James Anderson dismissing Dinesh Karthik in the first over.
After Karthik’s dismissal, skipper Kohli snuck around with allrounder Hardik Pandya to build a partnership. But Stokes ended Kohli’s resistance for 51 and dismissed Mohammed Shami in the same over. Ishant Sharma tried to smack a few runs but was eventually dismissed by Adil Rashid’s for 11 with a googly. Stokes took the final wicket of Pandya, who was caught at second slips on 31, as England took a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series.
The script of the first Test kept on changing, with both teams getting opportunities to take advantage at different stages. England started well with the bat on the first day, getting on to 216/3 with skipper Joe Root and wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow scoring fifties each. Kohli ran out Root for 80, which prompted England to lose six wickets for 69 runs in the final session. With Ashwin taking four wickets, the visitors bowled out the hosts for 287.
