Daijiworld Media Network
Nottingham, Jul 10 : James Anderson was the pick of the England bowlers yesterday, while Broad gave him good support. However, Liam Plunkett, who was playing a role similar to Mitchell Johnson, bowling bouncers at the batsman, was quite unimpressive apart from a few short spells. Ben Stokes, though he bowled well in patches, wasn't quite penetrative enough to get a breakthrough. Alastair Cook too was blamed for setting defensive fields and it is high time England deliver quality goods today for them to gain the upper hand in this 5-match series.
India went into the lead with two set batsmen at the crease, but Stuart Broad inspired them back into the game with a sensational spell, which also included a hat-trick. England would want Broad to do something similar today as well. In fact, if you take a look back at yesterday's play, England got an early wicket soon after a break. Pujara and Kohli went in quick succession after lunch and Rahane was dismissed very early after tea. So the first 20-30 minutes is going to be absolutely vital for both sides.
It was quite a surprise to see a relatively flat track in store for this game, considering that India were under serious pressure coming into the Test match. MS Dhoni won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first. In the end, to see 259/4 on the board at close of play would have pleased that Indian dressing room. Having said that, they cannot take England lightly. Though the hosts are slightly behind at this stage, they would be mindful of what happened at this very venue three years back.
It is a a gorgeous summer day out there in Nottingham. Day 1 belonged to India's opening batsman, Murali Vijay. He showed some great application and played out of his skin to score his first Test hundred outside India. It was needed after a long time that an Indian opener played like that outside the sub-continent. Can England bounce back and end the day on a high? Hello and a warm welcome to Day 2 of the first Test match.
Vijay walks off to handshakes from some of the England players. Dhoni also pats his partner on the back for the innings that he has played. It has been entirely Murali Vijay's day. Playing in his first innings in England and he scores a magnificent hundred. By achieving that feat, he becomes only the second Indian to score a hundred in his first innings on English soil. The innings consisted of everything, some delightful strokes, patience, maturity and playing according to the situation.
Dhawan was looking good in his short stay but his weakness around the off-stump was well picked up by Anderson. Pujara then came in and built a solid foundation with Vijay, the pair added 73 runs for the second wicket before Pujara succumbed to reverse swing. Kohli came and went, he didn't trouble the scorers much as he nicked off for 1. Rahane was looking well set but Plunkett did him in with some well directed short stuff. India were in a spot of bother but Dhoni eased the nerves as he played an innings and got to his fifty in the final over of the day. He has added 81 runs for the 5th wicket with Vijay and India will hope that these two can continue their good work.
For England, it was Anderson, who was once again the pick of the bowlers. He took some stick early on but came back really well when the ball started to reverse. Broad gave him good support from the other end as he kept things quiet. Plunkett bowled plenty of short stuff but never troubled the batsmen. With the pitch looking flat, the bowlers will have to toil hard to get wickets. Will the wicket spice up on Day 2? Hard to say with the way it played today.
After MS Dhoni's spirited effort batting with the tail-enders, rain came to India's rescue at Lord's and helped them save the first Test. The action shifted to Nottingham for the second Test, where India opted to field in seamer-friendly conditions. India's spearhead, Zaheer Khan, stunned the hosts very early by removing Andrew Strauss and captain Michael Vaughan in fairly quick succession. He then returned to bag two more wickets and helped India restrict England to a paltry first innings score.
The Indian batsmen made merry as the pitch eased out and posted a sizeable total on the board. With a lot of runs to play with, Zaheer accounted for Alastair Cook and then a well set Andrew Strauss soon after lunch on Day 4. Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood showed some resistance, but Zaheer removed both and also dismissed Ian Bell for a naught. Eventually, Zaheer bagged nine wickets in the match and was rightly named the Man of the Match. It was also his best bowling performance on English soil. In fact it was the only win for India in the 3-match series and it helped them edge the hosts in their own backyard after 21 years.