England take early honours against wayward India
Friday, 20 July 2007
England dominated the early exchanges on the opening day at Lord's as India made a slow start to the series with the ball. Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss, gifted a life on 43 when Dinesh Karthik dropped a sitter at point, opened with a rapid stand of 76 and Michael Vaughan carried on the positive tone. India's lone success came from the unlikely source of Sourav Ganguly, but the frontline pacemen were a disappointment although the surface is ready made for a high-scoring contest, reports Cricinfo.
Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth struggled in their opening spells, feeding both Cook and Strauss on their legs, and Rahul Dravid was quick to make changes. RP Singh, the left-arm seamer who had a short stint with Leicestershire earlier this season, came on after five overs and found a better line and length.
Cook was the more confident of England's openers - whenever he steps out at Lord's he slips into the groove - and two leg-stump half volleys from Sreesanth handed him a comfortable start. To emphasise the poor direction of India's pacemen five of Cook's six boundaries came through the leg side. But Strauss' time in the middle for the England Lions earlier in the week appeared to have done him some good although it wasn't quite a vintage performance. He benefited from the vacant third man area, but while Dravid was encouraged to keep his slips in he also needed to cover for the loose deliveries.
With England's run rate up at five-an-over after the first hour Dravid was searching for someone to offer control. The immediate thought might have been to turn to Anil Kumble, his banker, but instead Ganguly was the option and he conjured a bonus strike for India. Bowling considerably slower than the other seamers, Ganguly found a hint of movement and trapped Cook with one that nipped off the seam and took him on the back pad. Replays showed the ball was squeezing past off stump, but the initial views were that it was a fair decision from Steve Bucknor.
Vaughan was quickly into his stride as Dravid stuck with Ganguly from the Pavilion End and he picked off a sweet cover drive followed by a well-timed flick past mid-on. Sreesanth and Zaheer returned with improved spells later in the session as the batsmen began to play for lunch. Sreesanth should have been rewarded when Strauss spooned a drive to point but Karthik made a complete mess of the chance. On a flat surface India can't afford to spurn such opportunities.
England went against the pre-match talk and left out Stuart Broad in favour of a Test debut for Chris Tremlett and a recall for James Anderson. India's side was as expected with Yuvraj Singh missing out from a strong middle order.aa
Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth struggled in their opening spells, feeding both Cook and Strauss on their legs, and Rahul Dravid was quick to make changes. RP Singh, the left-arm seamer who had a short stint with Leicestershire earlier this season, came on after five overs and found a better line and length.
Cook was the more confident of England's openers - whenever he steps out at Lord's he slips into the groove - and two leg-stump half volleys from Sreesanth handed him a comfortable start. To emphasise the poor direction of India's pacemen five of Cook's six boundaries came through the leg side. But Strauss' time in the middle for the England Lions earlier in the week appeared to have done him some good although it wasn't quite a vintage performance. He benefited from the vacant third man area, but while Dravid was encouraged to keep his slips in he also needed to cover for the loose deliveries.
With England's run rate up at five-an-over after the first hour Dravid was searching for someone to offer control. The immediate thought might have been to turn to Anil Kumble, his banker, but instead Ganguly was the option and he conjured a bonus strike for India. Bowling considerably slower than the other seamers, Ganguly found a hint of movement and trapped Cook with one that nipped off the seam and took him on the back pad. Replays showed the ball was squeezing past off stump, but the initial views were that it was a fair decision from Steve Bucknor.
Vaughan was quickly into his stride as Dravid stuck with Ganguly from the Pavilion End and he picked off a sweet cover drive followed by a well-timed flick past mid-on. Sreesanth and Zaheer returned with improved spells later in the session as the batsmen began to play for lunch. Sreesanth should have been rewarded when Strauss spooned a drive to point but Karthik made a complete mess of the chance. On a flat surface India can't afford to spurn such opportunities.
England went against the pre-match talk and left out Stuart Broad in favour of a Test debut for Chris Tremlett and a recall for James Anderson. India's side was as expected with Yuvraj Singh missing out from a strong middle order.aa