Virat Kohli punishes England with 14th Test ton

Virat Kohli bailed India out of trouble in the first Test against England with an unbeaten 49 to guide his side to a narrow draw. He continued his good run by thumping an unbeaten 241-ball 151, which saw the hosts post a sizable 317 for 4 on the first day of the second Test which began in Visakhaptnam on Thursday.

Kohli won a crucial toss and chose to bat first on a pitch that would aid spinners later in the Test. His opposite number, Alastair Cook, cut an almost condemned figure at the toss as he contemplated batting last on the surface.

England's seamers, Stuart Broad, and James Anderson - making his comeback after injury - gave their side just the start they needed as they dismissed India's openers, Murali Vijay and KL Rahul, in the first five overs of the Test. They had hoped to induce an error from the two new batsmen, but they were wrong as Pujara and Kohli dropped anchor and began rebuilding the innings.

Kohli, playing in his 50th Test, was cautious in the first session and added just 35 runs from 61 balls he faced before lunch. In the post-lunch session, boundaries started to flow more freely for Kohli. He made his intentions clear from the start of the session and smacked the first ball from Anderson to the fence.

England did have their chance to dismiss him in the 43rd over. But Adil Rashid failed to hold on to a mistimed hook. Kohli maintained his tempo and ended that over with another four. He had raced to 61 from 103 balls at that stage, as the players took drinks.

As the day wore on, the Kohli-Pujara combine looked most comfortable against England's spinners. They thumped Moeen Ali for three fours in the 52nd over of the day, with Kohli hitting the first two. As the duo approached their hundreds, Pujara turned aggressor and raced ahead. He clubbed a short ball from Rashid in the 60th over for a six to register his third consecutive ton in Tests.

Kohli got his 14th Test ton in a more sedate fashion as he pushed an Anderson delivery in the 63rd over for two. India lost Pujara, for 119, and Ajinkya Rahane before the end of play. Kohli remained unbeaten on 151 and will look to capitalize on Friday.

"We wanted to build a partnership. We wanted to bat through the session," Pujara said. "The way we started we were rotating the strike. He was timing the ball well, and I was confident after the 100. There was some misunderstanding in the first session. We spoke about that in lunch. If you see it was better second session onwards."

"This one is slower than Rajkot. I see more rough on both sides of the pitch. There might be a little more help for offspinners as the game progresses. Hopefully there will be more cracks on it by the end of the second day. We would like to put up a big score, and hopefully we don't need to bat again."