England fight back after Indian openers shine on rain-curtailed day

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Only 33.4 overs were bowled on the second day of the first Test between England and India at Trent Bridge due to persistent rain interruptions after lunch.

India dominated the first session of play, losing just one wicket for 76 runs in challenging batting conditions. James Anderson's twin strike and a mix-up between batsmen after lunch brought the game back in balance as India finished the day on 125/4 with KL Rahul (57*) and Rishabh Pant (7*) at the crease.

Starting the day at an overnight score of 21/0, Indian openers Rahul and Rohit Sharma started extremely cautiously, scoring just six runs in the first 30 minutes of play on day two. In bowling friendly conditions, Anderson and Ollie Robinson opened the bowling and managed to beat the bat on a number of occasions but could not break the opening stand.

England thought they had Rohit when he shouldered arms to Robinson's in-swinger and decided to review the umpire's decision, only to lose their second review of the innings.

Joe Root opted for a double-change in bowling, bringing on Stuart Broad and Sam Curran, which did not work out too well for England as they afforded the openers a few too many loose balls. Rahul and Rohit, who had to dig in during the first hour of play, started putting away bad balls to the boundary to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Just when it looked like India would go through to lunch unscathed, Rohit (36) pulled a short ball from Robinson straight to Curran at fine leg, just three runs short of a 100-run partnership.

Early in the second session, DRS saved Cheteshwar Pujara (4) from an LBW decision, but he was out seven balls later when he edged a vintage Anderson out-swinger to Jos Buttler. The wicket brought out Virat Kohli to the crease but just for one ball.

Anderson, who had gone wicketless against Kohli (0) in the last home tour, drew the Indian captain to push at an away-swinger outside off and caught the edge which Buttler took behind the stumps.

Things went from bad to worse for India as Ajinkya Rahane (5) ran himself out at the non-striker's end trying to get a quick single. Cruising at 97/0 at one point, India found themselves at 112/4 within a span of six overs.

Between the two wickets, Rahul playing his first Test since August 2020, brought up his 12th fifty in the longest format of the game.

Rain brought a halt to an exciting period of play within the first hour of the second session. Three balls were bowled between two rain breaks after which umpires decided to call off play on day two at Trent Bridge.