No play before lunch on last day of intriguing England-India 1st Test

NOTTINGHAM: Rain meant an intriguing first Test between England and India at Trent Bridge remained in the balance, with no play before lunch on Sunday's last day

India were 52-1 in their second innings, needing a further 157 runs to reach a victory target of 209 in what promised to be tough batting conditions.

Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara were both 12 not out.

But persistent early morning rain prevented play resuming as scheduled at 11:00 am local time (1000 GMT), with the pitch and square both remaining fully covered.

Following an inspection, the umpires decided to bring forward the lunch interval by 30 minutes to 12:30 pm (1130 GMT) in the hope the weather may relent sufficiently to allow a prompt start to the afternoon session.

Even though bad weather meant more than 100 overs had been lost in the game before Sunday's delay, there could yet be enough time left for either side to go 1-0 up in this five-match series.

There were ironic cheers from the small gathering of hardy spectators inside Trent Bridge when the sun briefly broke through the clouds but rain was still falling on Nottinghamshire's headquarters.

That India faced a tricky chase was largely down to England captain Joe Root making 109 in his side's second innings 303 after he had top-scored with 64 in a first-innings 183, which featured four ducks.

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Jasprit Bumrah took 5-64 -- the sixth five-wicket haul in his 21 Tests -- to finish with impressive match figures of 9-110.

This match, much of which has taken place in overcast conditions favouring fast bowlers, was just the second instance of India's pace bowlers taking all 20 of the opposition's wickets in a Test.

The only other occasion was at Johannesburg in 2018 when Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami shared the wickets.

India, who defeated Root's men 3-1 at home earlier this year, are bidding for just their third win in 15 Tests in England and only their fourth series success on English soil following their 1971, 1986 and 2007 triumphs.

This match also marks the start of the new World Test Championship cycle, with India having lost to New Zealand in the inaugural final at Southampton in June.

The second Test of this series, at Lord's, starts on Thursday.