England squandered a promising start against India to close the opening day of the first cricket Test on 285 for 9 at Edgbaston.
Indian bowler Ravi Ashwin celebrates the run out of England captain Joe Root. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
England were on course for a substantial first-innings total when skipper Joe Root (80) and his fellow Yorkshireman Bairstow (70) were sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 104 in only 23 overs.
But just as the hosts threatened to dominate their 1,000th Test, Root was cut off in his prime - run out, once more short of a 14th Test century which has eluded him for the past year.
Ravi Ashwin finished with 4 for 60 as England folded in a disappointing final session.
England would have been all out had a tough caught-behind chance been held when Sam Curran (24 not out) edged Mohammad Shami's penultimate ball of day one.
It was the India captain Virat Kohli who produced the brilliant piece of fielding, with a direct-hit throw on the turn after Bairstow called an ambitious two barely to the edge of the square at midwicket.
Behind Root as he stormed off, Kohli then celebrated by blowing a kiss, mouthing some fruity advice, putting his finger to his lips and adding a 'mic-drop' mime - mocking Root's gesture last month, after clinching the one-day international series at Headingley with a second successive hundred.
It seemed Bairstow owed his captain some extra runs, and he might have been well-advised to stay put for other reasons too - but he got little further before he edged on trying to cut Umesh Yadav.
Then new England vice-captain Jos Buttler was lbw for a second-ball duck, pushing forward to Ashwin - and after Ben Stokes poked a catch back at the off- spinner, it was left to Curran and Adil Rashid to limit the damage.
It was a miserable passage of play for England in the hour after tea, on a day when they had long seemed sure to vindicate Root's decision to bat first on a pitch of even pace and true bounce.
Root did at least bag one notable career milestone, displacing Alastair Cook as his country's quickest to 6,000 Test runs when he reached 40 here.
-AAP
