Debutant Jennings thumps ton in Mumbai Test - India v England, 4th Test, Mumbai, 1st day
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Keaton Jennings became the fifth England opener - and 69th player in Test cricket - to score a ton on debut to help England end the first day of the fourth Test on 288 for 5 against India in Mumbai.
Jennings, the top run-getter in Division One of the 2016 County Championship, replaced an injured Haseeb Hameed, who impressed with his performance earlier in the series.
Jennings and his captain Alastair Cook got their side off to a solid start on a Wankhede pitch that had light sprinkling of grass and several cracks. The duo added 99 runs before Cook departed.
The hosts missed Mohammed Shami, who injured his knee in the third Test. His replacement Bhuvneshwar Kumar failed to trouble the batsmen and Jennings showed no signs of nerves and made India pay for a drop catch.
The lanky left-hander reached his landmark from 186 balls with a well-orchestrated reverse sweep against Jayant Yadav that reached the fence, in the 59th over of the day. His innings was laced with 12 boundaries and helped England post an impressive 196 for 2 at tea.
In the post-tea session, India's spinners managed to extract turn from the surface. The turn brought them back into the contest, as R Ashwin dismissed Ali and Jennings in the 71st over.
Ali had looked to attack after tea and his attacking intentions cost him his wicket, as his attempted sweep went horribly wrong and he top edged the spinner to midwicket. Jennings, two-balls later, edged a good-length delivery, on off stump to deep gully, for 112.
Ashwin then extracted extra bounce in the 81st over to dismiss Jonny Bairstow, the last England batsman to fall in the day, for 14. Ashwin, with the wicket of Ali early on, became the seventh highest wicket taker for India in Tests, surpassing Javagal Srinath with 235 wickets.
"Couldn't be happier, couldn't be prouder," Jennings said. "A life early on, got the beans going. Just chatting to my uncle, trying to approach like I would any other game. Woke up at 5 am this morning, thinking I missed the bus. No video, try to chat with other batters to see what it's like. After lunch, it started to turn. Virat's captaincy was superb."
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