Pace it like Ben and Zak

ON a challenging Oval surface having enough assistance for the pacers, batting was never going to be easy.

- FIROZ MIRZA @London

India witnessed it first hand when they were invited to bat by England skipper Ollie Pope on Thursday. Day 1 was difficult and two rain breaks only added to the batters' woes but Friday gave them some respite with sun replacing the clouds.

But with grass on the surface and the ball moving in the air, batting still was a task. Josh Tongue's delivery, which nipped back in to trap half-centurion Karun Nair in front of the stumps, highlighted the challenge batters were facing. Unfortunately, India could not make the most of the slightly better batting conditions and were folded out for 224 in the morning session. If not fully, Shubman Gill and Co were expecting at least some help from the strip when they came out to bowl. And they were not wrong. It helped England bowlers, who at times were spraying all around, when they were batting. England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, however, had some other plans. They came out all guns blazing, derailing India's bowling attack. India had no reply to their ruthlessness as they plundered runs much to the dismay of Indian pacers and took the game away from them.