England vs India, 5th Test, Day 1: India well and truly on top despite Cook's valiant innings
198 for 7 on the wickets that were on offer during the first four Test matches would have represented a good performance from the batting side, but, on the wicket that is on offer in the 5th Test, it is a poor score.
The wicket at Kennington Oval is the best in the series so far for batting. Bowlers during the first session did not get much movement. Till the time Alastair Cook was on the crease, the wicket looked absolutely flat. Having said that, the Indian bowlers never allowed English batsmen to get away.
Even when they were not getting wickets they were keeping the scoring rate under check. Their perseverance paid off and after getting Cook's wicket they were able to get two more wickets quickly, which turned the game on its head.
In cricket very often a wicket leads to another wicket, but for that bowlers need to stay patient and keep their line and length intact, otherwise, in desperation for a breakthrough they end up leaking runs, which makes it difficult for the bowling team to stage a comeback. Indian bowlers stuck to the plan and didn't give loose deliveries to any of the batsmen.
This wicket looks like a 350 wicket, anything below that will be under par and England doesn't look like going beyond 250. Keeping England under 250 on this wicket will be a very good effort from India. Indian batsmen will get the best conditions to bat in this Test and if they bat well they can amass a healthy lead.
Once again, the onus will be on the batsmen and they have to make the most of the best wicket of the series. Pujara and Rahane will be the key, if they can provide good support to Kohli then India can put up a decent first innings total. A lead of anything above 100 will surely put India on top, as the English batting is struggling and their lower middle cannot be expected to bail them out on every occasion.