Birmingham: Veteran seamer Jimmy Anderson dismissed Indian openers Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara in near identical fashion to reduce India to 53 for two at lunch on the opening day of the rescheduled fifth Test against England here Friday. Lunch was taken early as rain interrupted play.
Gill (17 off 24 balls) looked good while hitting those four boundaries but jabbed at a delivery from Anderson pitched a shade outside the off-stump as Zak Crawley took a regulation catch in the slip cordon.
Pujara (13 off 46 balls), who made a comeback in the series after missing home Test against Sri Lanka, looked solid as he hit an off-drive and square drive to collect a couple of boundaries but Anderson bowled a peach of a delivery to get him.
It pitched on length and climbed enough as the batter was forced to play an awkward defensive stroke only to find Crawley’s safe pair of hands in the slip cordon.
Virat Kohli (1 batting) and Hanuma Vihari (14 batting) were at the crease at lunch, which was taken early after rain stopped play.
Anderson ended first session with figures of 8-2-15-2.
Earlier England won the toss and opted to bowl first. India have gone into the game. India have gone into the game with one spinner in Ravindra Jadeja. The team management opted for Shardul Thakur and rested Ravichandran Ashwin.
Brief Scores: India 53/2 (Shubman Gill, 17, Cheteshwar Pujara 13 batting, Jimmy Anderson 2/15) vs England.