Jennings’ debut century powers England

Tea England 196 for 2 (Jennings 103*, Moeen 25*) v IndiaLive scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The early buzz about Keaton Jennings often had him associated with someone or something. How he has South African roots. How his father Ray was a former head coach. How he became Alastair Cook’s 11th partner in four years. On the first day of the Mumbai Test, however, the conversation revolved around his ability as a batsman as Jennings hit a century in his first innings. He was the fifth England opener to do so – the 69th player in cricket history – helping his team into a strong position in a game they have to win to stay alive in the series.

England reached tea at 196 for 2 with a run-rate of 3.16. Those numbers suggest how true the Wankhede pitch was in terms of pace and bounce and hide how it had begun to turn as early as the first session. Jennings had his share of scares and there was one ball in the 45th over from R Ashwin that tempted the theory that his off stump had a force field around it. He wouldn’t let any of them threaten his composure though. On 96, he reverse swept Jayant Yadav to the boundary and …

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