Moeen Ali scored a nice century on day one of the fifth Test against India and the England batsman will now want to continue his knock and turn it into a big hundred come day two. With the wicket flat and offering extremely slow turn to the spinners, Moeen and England have an opportunity to post a first innings score of over 500.
To do that what England need to ensure is that they cut out the poor strokes and just play every ball on merit. With the pitch being so flat, it can be tempting to go for the big shots more often, particularly with the two batsmen at the crease – Moeen and Ben Stokes – being attacking players, but what England need to make sure is that they don't gift wickets to India.
Jonny Bairstow, after playing so well for 49 on day one, gave his wicket away with a shot he did not need to play, and that is something England need to be wary of. Because the last thing they want to do is go from 284/4 to 350 all out.
That is what India will target after toiling in the Chennai heat on day one. While the ball turned for the spinners, it was such slow turn that rarely did it really cause problems for the England batsmen. Yes, the ball beat the bat a fair bit, particularly Moeen's off the bowling of R Ashwin, but even when the edge was taken, the ball barely carried.
India will need to look at building pressure to take wickets on this pitch, while also taking advantage of any early moisture there might be on day two. The ball is still quite new, so the pacers will want to see if they can extract something off the pitch, take a couple of early wickets and put the pressure back on England.
Because right now, it is England who are very much in the driver's seat. And if Moeen and Ben Stokes forge another big partnership, they could take the game away from India, who will be wary of that and will look to end the two left-handers' stay at the crease as quickly as possible on the second day of the fifth and final Test match, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Where to Watch Live
Day 2, 5th Test India vs England is set to begin at 9.30am IST (4am GMT, 11pm ET). Live Streaming and TV information for the match action is below.
India: TV: Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD3, Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD1. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 2. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports.
Middle East: TV: OSN Sports Cricket. Live Streaming: OSN Cricket Live.
US, Canada: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Online.
New Zealand: TV: Sky Sport. Live Streaming: Sky Go NZ.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel.
South Africa: TV: SuperSport. Live Streaming: SuperSport Online.
