Hit the top of off stump. Hit the top of off stump. Hit the top of off stump.

These are six words that budding fast bowlers all around the world are asked to repeat by their coaches until they put it into practice. On Friday afternoon in Vizag, Mohammed Shami paid tribute to his coach in the best possible way. Not only did he hit the top of Alastair Cook’s off stump, he took the top off it and broke the stick into two.

Nothing can get a fast bowler higher than the sight of the top of a stump lying shattered a few metres away from the pitch. And nothing can be more disheartening for a batsman to see. Shami had laid the perfect trap: he started off by getting the ball to move away from the left-hander after pitching in line, before getting one to nip back in. Cook, a batsman with one of the best defences in the world, could only watch as the ball found the tiny gap between his bat and pad and chopped his off stump into two.

It was the perfect start for India after they put on a challenging, if not imposing, 455 on the board. Ravichandran Ashwin had hit yet another crucial half-century and got good support from debutant No 8 Jayant Yadav (35), after Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s overnight knock had come to an end for 167 in the first session. The Indians were in a spot of bother after losing three quick middle-order wickets in the morning session, including Kohli’s, but Ashwin batted brilliantly again with the lower order to put India all but out of reach.

The pitch had not started to turn as much as expected by the time England came to bat, but it had popped up enough questions to keep the visiting batsmen vary, and India eager. Both teams knew that it is not going to get any easier to bat on as the match progressed. Haseeb Hameed and Joe Root did quite well to weather the storm following their captain’s dismissal to take England to tea at 34/1, but an enticing last session follows, where India will hope to pick up at leas three more wickets to put themselves in complete control.

India’s plan after winning the toss on Thursday would have been to score at least 450, dismiss England for less than 300, then put on 250 and declare, giving the visitors an improbable 400 to chase in the fourth innings. Part one of the plan has been accomplished. Part two has got off to a good start.

Brief score:

India 455 (Virat Kohli 167, Cheteshwar Pujara 119; Moeen Ali 3/98, James Anderson 3/62) lead England 34/1 (Joe Root 22*; Mohammed Shami 1/14) by 421 runs.