England experienced another taxing first day against India as Shubman Gill's century built firm foundations for the tourists in the second Rothesay Test at Edgbaston.
Buoyed by his side's fearless fourth-innings chase at Headingley last week, home captain Ben Stokes did not hesitate to repeat his tactics from that match - winning the toss and sending the opposition in on a good batting pitch.
The initial outcome was better this time - India reaching stumps on 310 for five compared to their seemingly bulletproof score of 359 for three at the same point in Leeds - but Stokes' opposite number ensured India edged the day.
Gill, who made 147 in the series opener, made it two hundreds in as many games as captain with a hard-working and undefeated 114 from 216 balls.
Chris Woakes was the pick of the bowlers on home turf, and deserved better than figures of two wickets for 59 runs, but England may need to battle back from another difficult position after Gill's unbeaten stand of 99 with Ravindra Jadeja.
India began by confirming they had rested star bowler Jasprit Bumrah - one of three changes to a losing team - but Stokes resisted the temptation to get stuck into an attack shorn of its most potent force.
Instead he trusted Woakes to make things happen on a familiar surface and was rewarded with an immaculate seven-over new-ball burst. Four of his first five were maidens and the slow build of pressure eventually got too much for KL Rahul, who chopped down his stumps looking to score behind square.
Woakes could easily have had another had umpire Sharfuddoula Saikat been more receptive, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Karun Nair both surviving tight lbw shouts. On both occasions DRS suggested the ball would have taken the bails but umpire's call spared the batter each time.
India took the change of bowling as an invitation to cut loose after a watchful start, with Josh Tongue on the receiving end.
His initial six-over burst shipped 42 runs and eight boundaries, Jaiswal and Nair both pouncing on drives as the Nottinghamshire man overpitched repeatedly.
Having paid the price for going too full, Tongue reverted to the short ball, only for Jaiswal to hook and cut him for the three fours in a row to pass his half-century.
Brydon Carse replaced him just before the interval and took out Nair for 31, a hint of extra bounce forcing the edge to second slip.
The afternoon session was a flat affair, with 84 runs and one wicket. Gill set the tone, playing with an abundance of caution but building what would become an innings of real substance as he shied away from risk and took on only the clearest scoring options.
England's sole success between lunch and tea was a big one, Jaiswal falling for 87 as he eyed a fourth century in just eight games against them. Stokes tempted the opener by hanging one wide of the off-stump and was overjoyed to see him take the bait, thrusting the bat at it and feeding a gentle catch to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.
India roused themselves at the start of the evening session, Gill coming out of both his shell and his crease to hit Shoaib Bashir down the ground for four. Pant took that as a green light from his skipper, tumbling to the ground after stooping to slog-sweep the spinner.
But the new-found sense of ambition came at a price. When Bashir tossed up a slow looper at just 46mph it proved to much for Pant to resist. The shot did not have enough on it and Zak Crawley galloped to his right for a smart catch at long-on.
Removing Pant for 25 after his twin centuries at Headingley represented a big step in the right direction for England and things took another positive turn when Woakes bagged another.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, recalled at number six, made just one before offering no stroke at one that jagged back in and knocked back off stump.
The door was ajar for Stokes' side, who would have been well on top had they picked up another couple by the close. But they found Gill's focus unshakeable as he ground out a fighting century befitting his new leadership role.
