There was green on the pitch and clouds above and the combination was enough to see 11 wickets fall on the opening day of the second Test match between India and England.
India V England 2nd Test Day One At Trent Bridge: England Bowled Out For 221
England, inserted into bat by MS Dhoni, were bowled out for 221 in their first innings thanks to some excellent bowling by the Indian medium-pacers in those helpful conditions. However, they came back strongly to pick up the wicket of Abhinav Mukund off the very first ball of the Indian innings before making Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman struggle through to the close of play.
The Indian bowlers must be credited for the way in which they exploited the conditions, especially in the second session. The first session was expected to be a batsmen’s nightmare but the pair of Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen did well to see the home team through to 69 for two. This was after the form players, Alastair Cook and Jonathon Trott had been sent back early.
However, in the post-lunch session, the Indians kept picking up wickets at alarming alacrity, once the double-centurion from the previous game, Pietersen had been picked up by S Sreesanth. Strauss, Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior followed in quick succession and despite a seventh wicket stand of 29, both, Tim Bresnan and Ian Bell did not survive long enough. Bell’s 31 was a fighting effort but he got out to a poor stroke, slashing one to the wicket-keeper from outside the off-stump.
It was after tea that the English side retaliated through their numbers nine and ten. Stuart Broad, confident after his second innings half-century at Lord’s counter-attacked and a panicking Indian side, spread the field out. This made it easier for both, Broad and Graeme Swann at the other end, allowing them to add 73 for the ninth wicket. Broad completed his half-century before Swann was sent back off a vicious ball from Praveen Kumar.
Harbhajan Singh finished off the innings to bowl the hosts out for 221. Praveen, Ishant Sharma and S Sreesanth got three wickets each.
After the early loss of Mukund, the pair of makeshift opener Dravid and the new number three Laxman batted the side through to safety, but not before they had survived some anxious moments.
A potentially exciting second beckons and if the cloud cover does not lift as has been forecasted, batting could become a very arduous task for the Indians.
See More:
