Related Link : India’s Tour of England 2011 : England Players : India Players : Scorecard of 1st Npower Test at Lord’s
India have their backs to the wall as they look to save the first Test at Lord’s on the final day. Despite an early setback of losing a wicket and having a depleted batting order, India emerged out strongly at 80 for 1 in 27 overs by the close of Day 4 thanks to a solid unbeaten partnership between the experienced duo of Dravid and Laxman. Both these batsmen have a history of putting up long partnerships together and this one at Lord’s could go along the same lines. England have 98 more overs left to take the remaining 9 wickets to win the match having given an improbable target of 458.
Tale of the Morning Session :
It was an ideal situation for England as Day 4 began as they already got a lead of 193 runs with all their second innings wickets intact. Praveen Kumar gave an early relief for India when he pitched a short delivery around middle and got it to seam away just enough to force Alastair Cook (1 from 27 balls) to nick him behind to the keeper in the 11th over. India managed to keep a lid on the scoring rate efficiently and there was an early wicket for a change for the struggling Harbhajan Singh as well when a well set Andrew Strauss (32 from 70 balls with 4 fours) went down for a sweep but missed it to get hit on the pad infront of leg by a quicker off break. Harbhajan got an lbw in his favour and England got pushed back at 54 for 2 in 22.3 overs.
Four balls after Strauss’ exit, Ishant Sharma unleashed a nasty lifter which surprised a usually forward lunging Kevin Pietersen to glove it behind to the keeper. Pietersen lasted just the three balls and could only avoid getting out for a duck. Ishant and India were on fire after KP’s exit and the match opened up five balls later when Ian Bell (0 from 5 balls) was forced back in the crease by a sharp delivery which angled in but left the pitch off the seam to catch an edge for the keeper to have the hosts at 55 for 4.
In the 28th over, Ishant struck again drawing Jonathan Trott (22 from 55 balls) forward in a straight drive with a 137.8 kmph pitched up delivery which came back a long way to hurry through the bat pad gate and force its way to hit the off stump! England were reeling at 62 for 5 now with the lead at just 250. England went to Lunch shaken up at 72 for 5 in 31 overs with Morgan and Prior at the crease. For India, Sachin Tendulkar didn’t come out to field as he was suffering from a viral infection.
Tale of the Afternoon Session :
MS Dhoni seemed to have missed out on a trick after lunch as he rested Ishant Sharma and came up with softer options in the form of Raina, Praveen and Harbhajan. Perhaps Dhoni wanted to prolong the English innings as long as possible to make it easier for a draw. That decision was enough for England to get bailed out of trouble. After a 45-run partnership, Ishant Sharma was brought back and he bounced out Eoin Morgan with a quick 138 kmph delivery in the 44th over. Eoin Morgan (19 from 56 balls) was very late in his pull shot, and the miscued pull flew in the air flat towards mid wicket where Gambhir lunged forward to take a low catch.
Englad slipped to 107 for 6 with the lead at 295 and the match by no means was secure for the hosts. Stuart Broad after a first innings duck fought his way through and along with Matt Prior got a crucial partnership going to rule out any chances of an Indian victory. Broad was also lucky to escape an lbw off a Harbhajan Singh drifter and that was the only opportunity that came India’s way all through the afternoon session. England by Tea were strongly placed at 174 for 6 in 59 overs with Prior well past a fifty and Broad into the 30s. Prior in the course of his knock sent Gautam Gambhir off the field with a smacking sweep which struck the short leg fielder nastily on the elbow. Gambhir was later rushed to the hospital for an X-ray.
Tale of the Final Session :
England pushed the lead past 400 after Tea and there was a clear intention to step up the ante and declare the innings as early as possible. Matt Prior accelerated towards a 6th Test century and as and when he got there, the English second innings was ended with a declaration. Prior remained unbeaten on 103 from 120 balls with 5 fours and a six while Stuart Broad got 74* from 90 balls with 9 fours. Ishant Sharma had to settle for 4 for 59 in 22 overs and thus missing out on a maiden five-wicket haul at Lord’s.
India had to face a possible 30 overs before close and they were forced to open with Rahul Dravid as Gambhir was away to the hospital. Dravid with Mukund did a fantastic job until the 9th over when the former was dismissed for a second time by Broad. Abhinav Mukund (12 from 32 balls) was bowled off the inside edge onto the stumps after going back for a forcing shot away from his body and paying the price for playing outside the line.
VVS Laxman has a history of producing his best whenever he batted at no.3 and this time too it wasn’t any different although he continued to look out of sorts like in the first innings. But with a few lucky escapes from the seaming deliveries, Laxman felt his own in the company of a confident Dravid to keep India secure. The pair saw through the rest of the session with some cracking shots and at the same time surviving some anxious moments against the seaming ball. Graeme Swann in particular was attacked by the pair which included a slog sweep from VVS Laxman who also played a couple of superb pull shots against the quicks.
India finished the fourth day at a promising 80 for 1 in 27 overs with Dravid on 34* (from 73 balls with 5 fours) and VVS Laxman on 32* (from 58 balls with 6 fours). Sachin Tendulkar who came out on the field during the post Tea session will have to bat only after the fall of the 6th wicket or after approximately 4 and a half hours which was the time he was off the field.