First Test: Bumrah, Ashwin strike as England reach 67/2 at lunch on Day 1
Chennai: Pacer Jasprit Bumrah and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin got one apiece to peg England back to 67 for 2 at lunch on the opening day of the first Test against India, here on Friday.
Skipper Joe Root, playing his 100th Test, was batting on 4 while opener Dominic Sibley was undefeated on 26 (96 balls, 3 fours) going into the lunch break.
Openers Sibley and Rory Burns provided England a solid start with a 63-run partnership during which they did not appear to be in too much trouble.
After negotiating the pace duo of Ishant Sharma and Bumrah (7-1-17-1), they kept Ashwin (10-0-31-1) and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem (5-1-11-0) at bay, showing patience and also playing shots whenever offered the opportunity.
The openers appeared to be making a steady progress before Burns unnecessarily went for a reverse sweep off Ashwin and saw the ball lob to 'keeper Rishab Pant for an easy catch.
Newcomer Dan Lawrence was sent back by Bumrah with a beauty which tailed in sharply catching the batsman plumb in-front.
Indian captain Virat Kohli had introduced Ashwin into the attack in the eighth over. The openers Sibley and Burns negotiated the first hour without much trouble.
Ishant (5-1-8-0) and Bumrah bowled steadily but could not cause any damage. Sibley and Burns played sensibly and showed patience to deny India any early inroads.
Bumrah, playing his first test at home, saw Pant grass Burns off the first delivery which the batsman tried to glance.
England captain Root won the toss and elected to bat. Star all-rounder Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Rory Burns returned to the side after missing the series in Sri Lanka.
For India, Virat Kohli returned after the paternity break while Ishant Sharma returned to the squad while Shahbaz Nadeem got to play his second Test.
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Will go out of way for protection of environment, ecology: SC on tree felling in Hyderabad
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed concern over the environmental damage due to the felling of a large number of trees on a land parcel next to the University of Hyderabad, and said it would go out of the way for the protection of environment and ecology.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih questioned the Telangana government over the "tearing hurry" to fell the trees there.
"You have to come up with a plan as to how you will restore those 100 acres (of land)," the bench told senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who appeared for Telangana.
Justice Gavai said the top court was surprised to see videos where animals were running for shelter.
The bench directed the wildlife warden of Telangana to take immediate steps to protect the wildlife.
"For the protection of the environment and ecology, we will go out of the way," Justice Gavai said.
While posting the matter for the next hearing on May 15, the bench orally said, "In the meantime, not a single tree will be felled there."
On April 3, the top court took suo motu cognisance of the state's tree felling drive in the Kancha Gachibowli forest and called it a "very serious" matter.
It asked the Telangana government to explain the "compelling urgency" for clearing the large tree cover and stayed any future activity till further orders
Students of the University of Hyderabad were protesting against the state government's plans to develop the 400-acre land parcel bordering the university.
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