Headingley Test: Openers give England control with century stand after bowlers skittle India for 78 on Day 1

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Headingley, Aug 25: After bowlers played their part to perfection by dismissing India to a paltry 78 in their first innings, openers Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns gave England a sensational start with a century stand as hosts dominated the opening day of the third Test here at Leeds on Wednesday (August 25).

At the close of play, England reached 120 for no loss, thanks to a solid batting show from the new opening pair of Hameed and Burns. Both the openers slammed their respective half-centuries and carried their bat through at the close of play as the hosts overhauled the visitors' first innings total in no time and even took a lead of 42 runs.

From the disappointment of getting bundled out for 120 in the final innings of Lord's Test, England batters made a terrific comeback and put themselves in the driver's seat.

England's bowling unit was led brilliantly by James Anderson as the legendary pacer was superb to give Team India three quick back-to-back jolts in the morning session after the opposition captain Virat Kohli opted to bat first.

Anderson's spirited effort lifted the morale of the entire English side as the rest of the pacers also chipped in with valuable contributions and decimated the Indian batting attack.

No Indian batsman could manage to touch the 20-run mark in the first innings as the tourists witnessed another shambolic batting collapse to record their ninth-lowest total in the red-ball format.

India's batting collapse freshened up the wounds of Virat Kohli-led side's batting effort nine months back when they faced the ignominy of getting restricted to its lowest total in an innings at Adelaide Oval when the Australian side bundled them out for 36 in the day-night Test.

No Indian batsman showed any resistance against a disciplined bowling effort from the hosts as there were no demons in the pitch. The pitch got better as the day progressed and had hardly anything to offer to the Indian bowlers when they stepped into the middle.

While Burns - who was under tremendous pressure to perform - returned to form with a gritty knock, Hameed stole the show with his backfoot cut shots and the way he put the pressure back on the Indian bowlers.

Hameed (60*) and Burns (52*) would now be looking to convert these composed half-centuries into big centuries as the pitch looks conducive for batting.

Earlier in the day, India captain Kohli won his maiden toss on the tour but that was the only positive for the tourists as all three sessions were dominated by the Joe Root-led side. Not a single India batsman posed any threat to the host bowlers who followed a disciplined line and length. The tourists were wiped out in just over 40 overs as their top-six batsmen failed to pose any threat to the England bowlers.

Anderson gave the hosts a flying start as he picked up three wickets for the loss of six runs in his opening spell of eight overs. The legendary right-arm pacer dismissed KL Rahul (0), Cheteshwar Pujara (1), and Kohli (7) in quick succession and pushed the Indians to the walls.

India were in trouble at 21-3 and, while they were given temporary respite by Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, the latter was soon sent packing by Ollie Robinson for 18.

Robinson picked up from where he left off after lunch with the wicket of Rishabh Pant, who edged straight into the hands of Jos Buttler for just two runs.

That was Buttler's fifth catch and England were not finished there as Craig Overton, in for Mark Wood, got Sharma - India's top scorer with 19 runs - caught trying an awkward pull shot.

Mohammed Shami was then caught at third slip by Rory Burns for a golden duck before Sam Curran got Ravi Jadeja (4) and Jasprit Bumrah (0) both out lbw. Mohammed Siraj (3) was the last to fall for a shocked India, the ball coming off his bat and landing in the hands of Joe Root at slip.