India suffered a heartbreaking 31-run loss to England as skipper Virat Kohli's heroics went in vain amid yet another abject batting capitulation in a riveting opening Test in Birmingham, on Saturday.
It was virtually Kohli versus England and when the Indian captain was trapped leg before wicket Ben Stokes in the 47th over, the hosts took control of the situation.
Resuming on overnight 110 for five, India folded up for 162 in 54.2 overs despite Kohli's combative 51 off 93 balls and Hardik Pandya's 31.
All-rounder Stokes bowled a fiery spell, to finish with four for 40. He claimed the key wicket of Kohli and also dismissed Mohammad Shami in the same over.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad picked up two wickets each as England drew first blood in what promises to be an engrossing five-match series.
The Indian bowlers did their job in both the innings but the batsmen, with the exception of Kohli, let the team down again.
The second Test begins at Lord's on August 9.
The sun was out at Edgbaston but the ball was doing enough to trouble the batsmen. India got off to a poor start as Dinesh Karthik (20) fell on the sixth ball of the day, caught at second slip off Anderson.
Kohli only faced six balls in the first 15 minutes of play, but Pandya grew in confidence as the duo put on 29 runs for the seventh wicket with the latter hitting a few boundaries off Broad.
The India captain continued his good run with the bat as he completed his 17th Test half-century off 88 balls.
But the introduction of Stokes turned things around for England. The fast bowler trapped Kohli leg before with the incoming delivery as the batsman shuffled across but missed the flick and was hit in front. He took the review but the on-field umpire's decision stood.
Stokes struck again the same over when he got Mohammed Shami caught behind for a duck.
Ishant Sharma (11), who has a county half-century this summer, hit a couple of boundaries off Stokes before another bowling change did the trick for England.
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid trapped Ishant leg before wicket with the googly for the second time in the match.
Stokes, who could miss the second Test owing to his court case, finished off the match as he got Pandya caught at first slip as England took a 1-0 lead.
