The big story: England pile up 537 in first innings

England’s Ben Stokes smashed 128 as he became the third English batsmen to score a hundred against India in the first Test at Rajkot. After Joe Root scored 124 on the first day, Moeen Ali got to his hundred on Day 2 and eventually fell for 117. Stokes then added more misery to the Indian bowling as they took England past 500 in a pitch that saw the ball beginning to turn during the last session. Jonny Bairstow chipped in with a crucial knock of 46 runs. England were bowled out for 537, leaving India with a mountain to climb.

Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets for England and they rest chipped in with two wickets apiece, excluding Amit Mishra, who bagged the last wicket of Zafar Ansari for India. The India openers began their innings with positive intent as they ended the day’s play on 63/0. Murli Vijay was not out on 25 as Gautam Gambhir also played himself in and remained unbeaten on 28.

Other top stories

  1. Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe by 275 runs as skipper Rangana Herath took 13 wickets in the Test match. Needing three wickets to win on the final day, Zimbabwe were all out for 233. Herath took his series tally to 19 wickets as his side celebrated a 2-0 win over Zimbabwe.
  2. India opener KL Rahul and bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar will play the next round of Ranji Trophy matches reported ESPNcricinfo. Kumar will turn up for Uttar Pradesh against Mumbai in Mysore, and Karnataka coach J Arun Kumar said Rahul would join the team against their clash against Rajasthan in Vizianagaram. Shikhar Dhawan is likely to play from November 21, when Delhi play Rajasthan in Wayanad.
  3. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is considering the introduction of a women’s Under-16 division. Joint secretary Amitabh Choudhary on Thursday said that it was contemplating introduction of a format for Under-16 girls in the women’s cricket segment and this new age group will become functional from 2017-’2018.
  4. The Indian women’s cricket team registered a six-wicket win in the first One-Day International against West Indies Women in Vijayawada on Thursday. The visitors struggled against the left-arm spin attack of Rajeshwari Gayakwad (4/21) and Ekta Bisht (3/14) as they were bowled out for 131. India reached their target with six wickets remaining with skipper Mithali Raj (42 not out) and Veda Krishnamurthy (52 not out) contributing to the win .