Lord's Test : England beat India by 196 Runs


London, July 25 (IANS) : Pacer James Anderson led with five wickets as India, save Suresh Raina's resolute 78, failed to defy the strong England attack and lost the first cricket Test by 196 runs at Lord's here Sunday.

Chasing a record victory target of 458 runs, India folded up for 261 in the final session of the fifth day with 28 overs still left.

There were jubiliant scenes all around as Stuart Broad, who played an important role with the bat and ball, trapped Ishant Sharma plumb lbw. In all the five days, the stands were packed with fans relishing every moment of the 2000th Test of cricket's history -- and the 100th between the two nations, that saw both teams produce exhilarating cricket.

The victory gave England a 1-0 lead in the four-match series with the next Test scheduled to start at Trent Bridge Friday.

It was a brilliant performance by England. They piled up 474 in the first innings with Kevin Pietersen scoring a double century under cloudy conditions. Broad, who had to fight for his place in the team, swung the ball prodigiously to take four wickets as India were bowled out for 286 in the first innings.

To be fair to India, they were dealt a serious blow on the very first day when pace spearhead Zaheer Khan strained his hamstring and did not bowl again. India bowled with three bowlers which forced Mahendra Singh Dhoni to leave his keeping gloves and bowl eight overs of gentle medium pace to give rest to his pacers.

If that was not enough, they had Sachin Tendulkar suffering a viral infection and Gautam Gambhir hurting his elbow.

Handicapped, India fought back through Ishant Sharma in the second innings when they reduced England to 62/5 on the fourth morning, the best period they enjoyed in the Test. But Matt Prior (103) and Broad (74) made sure that England held the advantage.

First innings centurion Rahul Dravid (36) and V.V.S. Laxman (56) began strongly to see off 27 overs Sunday, batting with sublime ease.

Resuming at 80/1 Monday morning, Dravid was dismissed with addition of only 14 runs to the total.

The English pacers were relentless in testing Dravid and Laxman around the off-stump.

It was a momentary lapse of concentration for Dravid, who till then had shown great resolve and patience in leaving anything remotely around his off stump during the 93-ball stay. Dravid poked at a widish Anderson delivery and perished caught behind.

Laxman looked set for a big innings as he reached his half-century, but pulled a ball straight to Ian Bell at midwicket.

Gambhir, who could not open the innings because of a sore elbow, hung on for 56 balls before Graeme Swann trapped him lbw with a straighter one.

India went to lunch with Tendukar and Raina at crease.

An ailing Tendulkar looked a pale shadow of himself. He survived two close chances and took 40 balls to reach his 12th run before being dismissed lbw by Anderson.

Tendulkar was lucky to be dropped by Andrew Struass at second slip and survived a close leg before call off Broad.

The maestro, who came to bat amidst a rousing welcome from a packed stadium, was widely tipped to score his maiden century at Lord's and also complete his hundred international centuries. But it was not to be.

Raina and Dhoni (16) played with patience to held on the fort for the rest of the second session. The two added 60 runs before Dhoni edged a Chris Tremlett delivery to wicket-keeper Prior.

The tail hung on for a while with Raina, who played some fluent strokes and hit 10 fours before Anderson had him caught behind.

Broad, who took three wickets in the second innings, removed Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma to spark English celebrations.


Scoreboard:

England first innings: 474/8 declared
India first innings: 286 all out
England second innings: 269/6 declared
India second innings: (overnight 80/1)
Abhinav Mukund b Broad 12
Rahul Dravid c Prior b Anderson 36
V.V.S. Laxman c Bell b Anderson 56
Gautam Gambhir lbw b Swann 22
Sachin Tendulkar lbw b Anderson 12
Suresh Raina c Prior b Anderson 78
Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Prior b Tremlett 16
Harbhajan Singh c Tremlett b Anderson 12
Praveen Kumar b Broad 2
Zaheer Khan not out 0
Ishant Sharma lbw b Broad 1
Extras: (b-2, lb-6, nb-6) 14
Total: (all out in 96.3 overs) 261

Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Mukund, 8.3 overs), 2-94 (Dravid, 34.1), 3-131 (Laxman, 48.1), 4-135 (Gambhir, 49.2), 5-165 (Tendulkar, 66.6), 6-225 (Dhoni, 85.2), 7-243 (Harbhajan Singh, 91.5), 8-256 (Kumar, 94.6), 9-260 (Raina, 95.4), 10-261 (Sharma, 96.3)

Bowling:
James Anderson 28 7 65 5
Chris Tremlett 21 4 44 1
Stuart Broad 20.3 4 57 3
Graeme Swann 22 3 64 1
Jonathan Trott 2 0 11 0
Kevin Pietersen 3 0 12 0

Toss: India, who chose to field
Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and Billy Bowden (New Zealand)
TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (South Africa)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka)

  

Top Stories

Comment on this article

  • Jaimini P.B., Manipal,Sharjah

    Tue, Jul 26 2011

    Dear Rita,Kerala..I don't agree with your veiw points about Dhoni's captaincy.Do you know that India never lost test series under Dhoni. We lost only one match against England,and series is not over,still 3 more matches to be played. Dear Madam..WE LOST THE BATTLE & NOT THE WAR ! But I appreciate your comments about Responsible Players.That is 100% correct.Dhoni did some wrong decisions..that his style !! He is a LUCKY captain.Anil Kumble was an intelligent captain but not lucky.

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Rita, Kerala

    Tue, Jul 26 2011

    It is a sad fact but a fact nevertheless that Dhoni is not fit captain for a test side. On any given day it was a lackluster effort. A one day or a T 20 yes, but a test match requires a lot of dedication, application ,patience and above all a very fit side to play for 5 days. The onus is on the Captain and to lose a test match because the players could not play due to injury or ill health is incompressible. Responsible players do not let their team, their country down on reputations of past glories or personal mileage. A winning hand lost to a random shot

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Manohar, Mangalore

    Tue, Jul 26 2011

    Beg to differ Mr Louis. In 1986 India won the first test at Lords & went on to Win Series 2-0 under Kapil Dev's leadership. However, Hope your predictions come true this time

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Louis D'Souza, Udupi/Kuwait

    Tue, Jul 26 2011

    (When India lose means they have regained their form, ha ha ha) Who ever wins 1st has lost the series in the past in England, now its our turn to tople England. Check past records.

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Manohar, Mangalore

    Tue, Jul 26 2011

    I agreee with Mr Jaimini. The main reason however is change in positive attitude. This was evident in the approach Dhoni followed in West Indies where a series win of 1-0 was settled instead of possible 3-0 effort which continued here starting with the Toss.Choosing to field was not a positive start and if India batted the result would have been better. In the second innings Ishanths resting at a crutial juncture seized the results. A Couple of wickets with aggression of 110% was needed to change the results which our team lacked in attitude to show up. Better awake before too late and come back showing why India is No 1.

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Jaimini P.B., Manipal,Sharjah

    Tue, Jul 26 2011

    Some of the main reasons for losing Lords test match.
    1.Zaheer Khan who was unfit was included in the test match.He sustained the injuries since IPL matches and didn't recover fully and he had hidden the injury problem.Coach and physio are responsible too.
    2.Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first.He knew that batsmen face problems on the last day of the match but he was over confident.
    3.Harbajan Singh has become batsman allrounder.He lost his bowling skill.Instead he likes to bat ! Leg spinner Mishra is more useful than Bajji.
    4.No Sehwagh..One of the main reasons.Had he been there,picutre woulhd have been different.He doesn't care bowling pitch or batting pitch.So,India lost the backbone in the beginning itself.
    5.Cricket experts,fans,media were discussing about Sachin's 100th test instead of India's victory.So,our aim was Sachin's century and we put loads of pressure on Sachin..Finally..the result..India lost the historical test match.

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse


Leave a Comment

Title: Lord's Test : England beat India by 196 Runs



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.