PTI
 
Mohali, Mar 10: History beckoned Anil Kumble as the veteran leg spinner brought himself within sniffing distance of joining the elite 500-wicket club on the second day of the second cricket Test against England here today.   Editor's Choice
 
Kumble picked his 498th scalp when he clean bowled first Test centurion Paul Collingwood with a googly that clipped the bails off the stumps in a spectacular fashion.

The early strike by India’s leading wicket-taker put England firmly on the backfoot and threatened to spoil their plans of putting up a competitive first innings total.

With bad light once again interrupting play, an early lunch was taken, the vistors being placed at 200 for five. The second day’s play was later called off as heavy rains prevented resumption.

Skipper Andrew Flintoff was batting on 26 off 45 balls with six fours while Geraint Jones was on seven with one four.

The visitors, overnight 163 for four, started the day confidently with Flintoff deciding to take the attack to the rival camp.

The indomitable allrounder welcomed Munaf Patel with a straight driven four before hitting another in the bowlers next over.

The inspirational skipper was also not intimidated by Kumble, who managed to trouble the batsmen on quite a few occasions, slamming him for two boundaries in one over, including an exquisite straight drive.

But like yesterday, the English batsmen were guilty of losing their concentration just when looking to have settled down on an easy paced PCA wicket.

Collingwood was bamboozled by the Kumble delivery similar to the one that dismissed Ian Bell yesterday. He made 25 with three fours in 185 minutes and 77 balls.