Jennings hits fifty on debut as England make strong start
By Sudipto Ganguly
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Opener Keaton Jennings struck a fifty on debut as England got off to a strong start against India on the first morning of the fourth and penultimate test at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
The touring side, trailing 2-0 in the five-match series, reached 117 for the loss of captain Alastair Cook at lunch.
Jennings was unbeaten on 65 at the crease with Joe Root not out on five at the other end.
Left-hander Jennings became Cook's latest opening partner, replacing teenager Haseeb Hameed, who broke his little finger in Mohali and returned home to undergo surgery.
Jennings, the son of South African former wicketkeeper and coach Ray, arrived in India only on Monday after being called up from the England Lions squad in the United Arab Emirates.
After Cook won the toss and opted to bat, the 24-year-old Jennings survived some nervous moments at the start but grew in confidence as he spent time at the crease.
He was dropped by Karun Nair at gully off paceman Umesh Yadav before he had opened his scoring while India also wasted a review after Jennings was given not out to an appeal for leg before off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who came into the side for the injured Mohammed Shami.
Before the match, Cook had promised a more positive approach from his batsmen and it reflected during England's opening stand of 99.
Cook looked solid during his 60-ball 46 and hit five boundaries before he was out to left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja's third ball of the morning.
Trying put Jadeja under pressure, Cook danced down the wicket but was beaten by the spin and was stumped by wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel.
Jennings, who scored six centuries for county side Durham last season, played some handsome drives against the pacemen and some fine sweep shots to the spinners for his eight fours in his unbeaten knock so far.
England dropped off-spinner Gareth Batty from the side that lost the last match in Mohali and opted for an extra fast bowler in Jake Ball with Stuart Broad failing to recover sufficiently from the foot injury he suffered in Visakhapatnam.
Opening batsman Lokesh Rahul returned to the Indian side after missing the third test in Mohali with injury and replaced middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane who has been ruled out of the last two tests with a fractured finger.
(Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)