Kohli and Rahane impress on morale-boosting day for India
After winning the toss and electing to field, England's seamers would have scented early wickets following the havoc they wreaked in the crushing second Test victory at Lord's. However, the tourists showed better technique and application, offering their captain far more support than they had previously in the series.
In Kohli's 38 Tests as captain India are yet to field the same side in two consecutive matches and three changes were made to the team that lost at Lord's, with Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and Shikhar Dhawan coming in for Kuldeep Yadav, Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay.
Dhawan and KL Rahul became India's third opening combination in as many matches and they safely negotiated the new ball, sharing a partnership of 60 before the former edged a delivery from Chris Woakes (3/75) that angled away from him through to Jos Buttler at second slip, falling for a well-made 35.
Woakes claimed his second wicket in his next over, setting up Rahul with a succession of outswingers before getting the ball to come in at the right-hander off the pitch and trapping him lbw for 23.
Despite the double salvo it was a significant improvement on Lord's when India had lost their first wicket with the score on zero in both innings, and Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara (14) built on that platform, only for the latter to fall victim to a short delivery from Woakes, picking out Adil Rashid on the fine-leg boundary on the stroke of lunch to give the right-arm seamer his third wicket of the session.
The visitors recovered from that blow to dominate the second session, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane (81) sharing a stand of 159 – an Indian record for the fourth wicket at Trent Bridge and India's first century stand in England since Bhuvenshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami at the same venue four years ago.
Rahane, who has an excellent record overseas but had struggled up until this point in the series, was finding rhythm in his strokeplay and looked well set for a 10th Test century until Alastair Cook took a stunning one-handed catch at first slip to remove him. India's No.5 played a loose drive at a full delivery from Stuart Broad and, despite seeing it late, Cook managed to stick out a hand and cling on.
Kohli found good support in Hardik Pandya as he approached his century but fell three short of the landmark when he was tempted into a drive against the leg-spinner Rashid and Ben Stokes claimed a thick edge at first slip. India's captain was livid with himself with the game so delicately balanced at 279/5 but the debutant Pant showed no sign of nerves as he became the 12th player in the history of the game to register his first Test runs with a six, skipping down the wicket to Rashid and depositing him back over his head.
Pant continued to play his shots, reaching 22* from 32 balls at stumps, but the visitors lost Pandya with the final delivery of the day, the all-rounder edging to Buttler in the cordon to give James Anderson his 100th Test wicket against India.
Given their batting travails so far in this series, India will be pleased with their day's work. However, England will also be reasonably happy with their efforts in a match that is tantalisingly poised.