Manchester: England removed a well-set opening duo of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal before sending back Shubman Gill to leave India at 149 for three at tea on day one of the fourth Test here on Wednesday.
Sai Sudharsan (26) and Rishabh Pant (3) are at crease during the second break of the day.
Having failed to land a wicket in the morning session, England broke through shortly after lunch with Chris Woakes finally getting rewarded for relentlessly bowling in the off-stump channel.
He had Rahul (46 off 98) caught at third slip with a ball that seamed away from length.
The second wicket of the session came via left-arm spinner Liam Dawson, who took seven balls to strike in his first Test in eight years.
Jaiswal (58 off 107) played for the spin but the ball did not turn that much, taking a thick outside edge on way to the first slip.
Playing in place of Karun Nair, Sai Sudharsan was watchful at the start, only to score off balls that pitched on middle and leg.
The young top-order batter flicked Jofra Archer for his first four before cover driving Dawson.
There was a clear ploy from England to deliberately drag one down the leg side when Sudharsan was batting, following his soft dismissal at Leeds.
Ben Stokes almost had Sudharsan in a similar fashion but Jamie Smith spilled a regulation catch down the leg to offer a lifeline to the Indian batter who was on 20 at the time.
India captain Gill (12) did not last long as he misjudged an incoming ball from Stokes. He offered no shot, and got trapped in front.
In the morning session, Jaiswal survived a probing spell from Woakes while Rahul looked solid as ever to steer India to 78 for no loss at lunch.
No team opting to bowl first has ever won at Old Trafford but Stokes ignored that piece of statistics on an overcast morning.
The ball did seam around but lack of pace allowed the Indian openers to play the pull shot with relative ease. Gill thought it was a good toss to lose and that seems to be the case considering the dry and slow nature of the surface.
Woakes made it most difficult for the batters, especially Jaiswal who was beaten on a number of occasions by the England pacer.
In the first over of the match bowled by Woakes, two edges off Jaiswal’s bat did not carry, signalling there was not enough carry off the pitch.
In his eight-over spell, Woakes was pulled twice with Rahul and Jaiswal dispatching him in front of the square.
A streaky drive from Rahul off Woakes brought the Indian opener’s 1000 runs in England, a testament to his stellar work at the top of the order even in this series.
Jaiswal, who was removed by Archer twice at Lord’s, made a conscious effort to leave balls.
The southpaw was also forced to change his bat when a ball from Woakes seamed back sharply from round the wicket to hit high on his bat, breaking the handle.
The openers somehow managed to survive the first hour of play, taking India to 42 for no loss in 14 overs.
Towards the end of the session, Archer returned for his second spell. He bowled a sharp bouncer to Jaiswal which he directed towards third man for four despite falling on the ground.
A couple of cut shots off Stokes took Jaiswal into his 30s, the second being a six over the vacant third man.
Despite showing plenty of faith in Nair on the eve of the match, Gill dropped the number three batter and brought in Sudharsan in his place.
The other two were forced changes with uncapped Anshul Kamboj and Shardul Thakur making way for the injured Akash Deep and Nitish Reddy respectively.
