Twitter Reacts After Joe Root And Dom Sibley Partnership Puts England In A Pole Position Against India

By Yash Mittal

Updated - 05 Feb 2021, 06:07 PM

Joe Root, India, England
Joe Root and Dom Sibley [Image Credits: Twitter]

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A masterclass in how to play spin bowling by skipper Joe Root [128] and a patient knock by opener Dom Sibley [87*] has helped England take the pole position at the end of the first day against India in Chennai.

Having won the toss and decided to bat first, England got an early reprieve as Rishabh Pant dropped a difficult caught-behind opportunity against Rory Burns on the very first ball that Jasprit Bumrah bowled on home soil.

But barring that, the duo-especially Dom Sibley- batted really well in the morning session on what looked like a pretty flat wicket at the Chepauk.

The opening pair compiled a 63-run-stand in 23.5 overs- the best by a visiting team against India since Ranchi 2017- but just as it looked like India were going on the defensive, a brain fade moment from Rory Burns brought the home side in the contest.

With just a few overs left, Burns tried to reverse-sweep Ravichandran Ashwin, only to get a leading-edge and give an easy catch to Rishabh Pant.

India, England
Jasprit Bumrah celebrates with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli [Image Credits: Twitter]
Skipper Virat Kohli in what was a brilliant tactical move brought back his strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah from the same end from which Ashwin was bowling and it took the former just 4 balls to land another blow on the visitors.

It was a typical Bumrah dismissal where he bowled it full and got the tailback into the right-hander. Dan Lawrence was caught on the crease and was beaten for sheer pace as the ball thudded into his pads. It was so plumb that Jasprit Bumrah started celebrating even before the Umpire raised his finger.

Lawrence consulted his partner on whether to take the review or not and eventually decided against it. It proved to be a great decision in the end as the ball-tracking later displayed that the ball was hitting the middle stump.

India, England
Dom Sibley [Image Credits: Twitter]
The afternoon session was attrition cricket at its best. Joe Root and Dom Sibley found run-scoring tough against the likes of Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin in the first hour.

However, the duo ensured that they got through the spell and then cash in- especially Root who hadn’t scored a run off 25 balls when Ishant was bowling- on the loose deliveries dished out by Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar.

The partnership soon crossed the 50-run-mark post which Dom Sibley too completed a patient half-century (in 159 balls)- his second in as many innings. The duo ensured that England did not lose any wicket in the afternoon session.

Sibley and Root continued to blunt the Indian attack in the post-Tea session. Joe Root looked like he had picked up from where he had left in Sri Lanka as he compiled yet another half-century.

Root once again displayed a masterclass in how to play spin bowling. Besides dishing out his trademark sweep, he rocked back on the backfoot brilliantly every time the likes of Nadeem and Sundar erred in their length and dished it short.

India, England
Joe Root [Image Credits: Twitter]
The English skipper looked absolutely unflappable throughout his innings, stroking boundaries all around the wicket. The inexperience of Nadeem and Sundar was on full show as they dished out a ‘hit me’ ball in nearly every over.

And, the duo of Sibley and Root cashed in big time as they took the total past the 200-run mark. And, the moment that every English fan had been waiting for came in the 78th over as Joe Root, playing in his 100th Test, compiled his 3rd hundred in the calendar year.

Root became the 9th batsman in the history of Test cricket to score a 100 in his 100th match. The Indians took the second new ball straight away and after 9 overs of toil with the new nut, India finally broke the 200-run-stand as Jasprit Bumrah trapped Dom Sibley plumb in front of the wicket.

 

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

https://twitter.com/benjonescricket/status/1357604505337135105?s=19

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India vs England 2021

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