England take honours on day 2
Faisal Shariff
India lost two quick wickets -- of Virender Sehwag and Ashish Nehra -- in the last 15 minutes of the day's play and were reduced to 130 for 3 from a healthy 120 for 1, in reply to England's mammoth first-innings total of 487.
Sehwag missed his second Test century, when Ashley Giles dismissed him for 84 at the fag end of the day, with India still 357 runs in arrears of the English total. Rahul Dravid was undefeated on 33.
With the wicket devoid of any threat to the batsmen, Lord’s appears set to witness some exhilarating batting from the Indian stroke makers on day 3.
Morning session
England approached the 400-run mark despite losing Andy Flintoff and skipper Nasser Hussain minutes before lunch, at 372 for 7.
Flintoff, who registered his maiden Test half-century in England, wove a quickfire 93-run partnership with Hussain, who scored 155.
Talking to the media at the end of day one, Hussain, having scored his eleventh Test century, said he would like England to get 600-700 runs considering the kind of batting India possesses.
The indiscipline that the Indian seamers displayed on the opening day of the Test made Hussain's gag sound more realistic than ever.
India needed to raise their game to avoid fading into the margins of the match. Their best bowler on display, Zaheer Khan, provided an encore by snapping up Alec Stewart before he could add another run to his overnight score of 19.
Zaheer pitched one on middle stump and got it to cut back a shade. Umpire Russel Tiffin, who doesn't generally entertain Indian appeals, raised the finger and Stewart's record-breaking Test began on the wrong note.
England lost their fifth wicket for 263 and India sniffed a comeback chance before the `Flintoff Show' unfolded, with special invitee Hussain increasing the production value of the show.
Ashish Nehra, who bowled with more control, was dispatched either side of the square with contempt, while Zaheer was cracked through extra-cover and mid-off for fours. The strapping Lancashire boy was in a menacing mood and skipper Ganguly was as confused as a kitten caught in a ball of wool.
He brought on Anil Kumble, who beat Hussain with a delivery that curved appreciably, took the outside edge of the bat and quietly bisected the gloves of wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra and first slip on its way to the fence. Hussain, charging down the track, caught Kumble in two minds. A short ball was brutally pulled for four.
Flintoff delighted all those who tipped him as the future of English cricket with the most booming of drives either side of the wicket. The first eight overs of the day had cost 37 runs and England seemed set for a huge total.
Hussain helped England cross the 300-run mark, dancing down the wicket and sending Kumble back over his head.
Ajit Agarkar, who was not introduced into the attack for the first hour after a shoddy bowling performance the previous day, was finally given the ball and was pulled through mid-wicket for four by Hussain.
Hussain clobbered his 25th boundary through the covers, off Nehra, to bring up his 150, as England seemed on route to the 400-run mark.
Kumble returned to the attack and borrowed a page from Hussain's book on captaincy, bowling around the wicket into the rough to the England skipper. Ganguly, in his desperation to stem the flow of runs, rearranged a defensive field but failed to pull it off.
Flintoff crashed Kumble for a six into the Compton and Edrich stand, registering his maiden Test half-century at home. A push to mid-wicket brought up the 350, as England seemed to have won the fourth session of the game as well.
Agarkar, in his ever-generous mood, gifted Flintoff two free-hits for four. With six fielders on the off-side, Agarkar bowled the first ball of the over at Flintoff's feet and was duly punished for the slip-up. But, with a touch of complacency, Flintoff then swished at a widish delivery outside off and edged the ball to the keeper. (356-6)
Agarkar struck again in his next over when Hussain, playing a tired shot, gave keeper Ratra another regulation catch. A rapt Lord's crowd applauded his seven-and-a-half-hour epic knock of 155, which was laced with sumptuous drives and audacious pulls. (357-7)
Two wickets in two overs for Agarkar put the brakes on the England charge but the damage could only be controlled not repaired.
With two new batsmen -- Craig White and Ashley Giles -- at the crease, India hoped to wrap up the England innings quickly but were surprised with a barrage of boundaries as the clock approached lunch-time.
England went into lunch at 372 for 7, having scored 115 runs in the morning session of the day.
Post Lunch session
Debutant Simon Jones's breezy knock did a lot of good to the English innings, which ended on 487 at the stroke of tea.
Ashley Giles and Craig White walked out after lunch and searched for some quick runs as England attempted to cross the 400-run mark. Giles though was beaten for pace, as a Nehra delivery that kept a tad low crashed into the stumps. He had thrown in 19 in his partnership of 33 with White.
Debutant fast-bowler Simon Jones walked out to bat at number ten as the England innings petered out. 46 minutes later the right-arm speedster, who bats left-handed, had devastated and torn the Indian bowling to pieces.
A snorter of a delivery from Zaheer, that sailed over his head, greeted him at the crease. Minutes later, the innocence on him was lost as he tore into the bowlers with the ire of a storm. With a high grip on the handle, the young Glamorgan pace bowler played blooming drives and cuts, interspersed with the most unorthodox of cricket shots that may have had spectators in the celebrated Long Room of Lord’s shaking their heads in disapproval.
After White helped England cross the 400-run mark, Jones sent Zaheer crashing into the pavilion steps. Another straight-drive for four and the Indian skipper realised the task at hand.
Agarkar’s first ball was a patent short and wide delivery, and Jones socked it to the cover-point fence. A failed yorker outside off was dumped to the cover fence and recovered, only to be sent right back to the same spot. The 44-ball 50 between him and Craig White had taken the wind out of the Indian bowling as Jones failed to wipe the smile off his face.
Jones's 43-ball 44 was busted when he edged one from Kumble as the ball flew to Rahul Dravid at slip. Earlier in the over, a leading edge off Kumble flew high in the air towards long-on but Agarkar grassed the skier. The Indians though didn’t pay too heavily for the gaffe, as the next ball was edged to Dravid at slip. (452-9)
Simon, whose father Jeff had represented England in the sixties, is tipped to be as fast as Brett Lee and is expected to be the English arsenal for the Ashes series later this year in Australia.
The 62-run partnership with White had exceeded Hussain's target by 50 runs as England crossed the 450-run mark.
White completed an industrious half-century as England batted India out of the Test. When Ratra stumped White off Kumble, England had heaped 487 in their innings, with the last two wickets gathering 97 runs.
It is shuddering to think what the injured Marcus Trescothick would have done to this mediocre Indian attack. With three more Tests to go in this series, things are seeming to crash for India after the NatWest Tri-Series euphoria.
Post Tea session
The new Indian opening pair of Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag walked out to bat after spending five sessions on the field.
Matthew Hoggard got through Jaffer’s defences when a delivery swerved a little in the air after pitching and kissed the pads before smashing into the woodwork. Jaffer will rue missing a golden opportunity on a flat Lord's wicket, against a pedestrian English attack. Sehwag though grabbed the opportunity, unfazed by the fall of the early wicket, and batted with his usual flamboyance with Dravid at the other end.
Hussain missed his opening pacers, Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick, as the Indian batsmen played Matthew Hoggard and Andy Flintoff with little discomfort. Dravid flicked Hoggard for two boundaries while Sehwag sent Flintoff in the same direction.
Giles was given the ball in the seventh over, ahead of speedster Simon Jones, and Dravid cut him for four and swept the next one behind square. Eleven runs came from the first Giles over and Hussain was ruing the move. Bowling from over the wicket, Dravid moved away towards the leg and maneuvered a fluid inside-out cover-drive boundary off Giles.
India crossed 50 in the 13th over with a flowing on-drive off Giles. A slog-sweep in the same over went flying into the crowds for six. India’s riposte was nothing if not cavalier.
While Sehwag made sure that India’s dawn was not declared a false one, Dravid played a game of quiet endurance after an initial splurge of boundaries.
Jones was introduced into the attack and the Englishmen saw one from their ranks hurl the ball at 90 miles an hour. Ever since the Jamaica-born Devon Malcolm, England have yearned for a fast-bowler to call their own. Jones, with natural raw pace, seems a potential candidate to fill that slot. And though his initial spell in international cricket wasn't breathtaking, the youngster showed a lot of promise.
A short run-up with a huge jump -- imbibed in him by his father, a champion long-jumper --Jones completes his delivery with a whiplash action though his head drops off at the point of release.
With a temperament devoid of nerves, Sehwag smashed him through the covers for four and pushed for a single wide off the bowler to bring up his 57-ball 50, which was laced with six boundaries and a six.
Jones aimed a waist-high full toss bowling from round the wicket straight at Dravid’s hips, hoping to snap a straight catch at leg-slip, where skipper Hussain had stationed himself. The move fell flat on its face as Dravid negotiated the ball with minimum fuss.
Sehwag, who had spooked the English bowlers beyond measure with his flamboyant batting, stretched their agony when he found the path through the covers despite Hussain’s constant reshuffling of the cordon on the off-side. Three boundaries off Craig White and the English hands went deeper into the pockets with despair.
Sehwag sauntered through for a single to covers as India crossed 100 in the 27th over. Giles, who returned for his second spell, finally ended a dazzling Sehwag innings, as an inside edge hit the pad and rolled on to dislodge the bails.
Giles, who had suffered at the batsman's hands, pointed towards the dressing-room, mouthing expletives at a disappointed Sehwag who was out 16 short of his second Test century.
With the revised ICC rules that caution players against behaviour that brings the game to disrepute, it will be interesting to see what action match referee Mike Procter takes against the left-arm spinner.
Sehwag’s 97-ball knock of 84 saw him collar every English bowler, barring Flintoff, and was laced with 10 fours and a six. (128-2)
In a move that seemed too defensive, India sent in night-watchman Ashish Nehra; a truly intriguing choice what with the likes of lower order batsman like Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan in the pavilion.
After surviving an appeal for leg-before against Flintoff, Nehra was dismissed off the penultimate ball of the day, trapped in front by Flintoff, who came from round the wicket.
India ended the day on 130 for 3, with Dravid undefeated on 33 and Sachin Tendulkar slated to come in next.
