The 2000th Test - England v India – 1st Test – Day 1’s Summary
England 127/2 (49.2 ov)
The match which was being anticipated as the most electrifying test extravaganza of the year, a test between rising India and a dominant England, at the Lord’s cricket ground, failed to stay on course after rain hit London, causing the match to be abandoned
in the 50th over of the day.
On a murky English morning, India won the toss and the skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028, taking a wise decision, chose to field first, hoping to give the English batsmen a run for their money while batting against a formidable bowling attack under clouds.
Captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026, came out to on the crease for the 2000th Test match in the history of the game to bat the Indians into submission.
However, the Indians bowled extremely well on the first day as they made life unpleasantly difficult for the batting side by exhibiting furious bowling. From http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, Zaheer Khan was surely the pick of the bowlers as the English openers looked in a spot of
bother while facing him. The 32-year-old seamer from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Maharashtra-c811 swung the ball both ways, confusing the batsmen.
Cook, who has brought a change in his batting style, making it more suitable for the limited overs game, looked out of touch as he was troubled by most of the Indian pacers. The batsman failed to middle the ball on various occasions, and after playing a
struggling innings of 12 runs off 36 deliveries, he was the first to give the Indians a moment of joy by getting trapped right in front of stumps on a delivery bowled by Khan. As the batsman walked back, the Indians knew that they had snatched the wicket of
England’s top man.
Nonetheless, Strauss stood defiant against the Indians as he predicted their moves and countered them by playing superb shots all around the park, giving the spectators at Lord’s plenty to cheer about. After smacking 22 runs off 83 deliveries he miscued
a short delivery by Khan, which landed straight into the hands of Inshant Sharma at fine-leg. At the time of his departure the side had posted 62 runs on the board.
Number three batsman Jonathan Leonard Trott, and all-rounder, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806, then took the realms of the national squad and mellowed the Indian attack as both batsmen took the Indian pacers to task by facing them with zeal and defiance.
At this point in time, the Indian skipper Dhoni clearly seemed like running out of ideas as he knew that he needed to break the partnership before letting things get out of hand. The nervousness in the Indian camp was imminent when Trott was dropped twice
during in his innings.
The batsman took full advantage from the two chances which were given to him by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319, when Dhoni pulled out from taking a catch right at the last moment. The batsman went
on to whip 58 runs off 104 deliveries, including eight glorious boundaries off his bat.
Meanwhile on the other side, all-rounder Pietersen provided good support to Trott as he retained his wicket without taking too many chances and kept the score board ticking by grabbing runs. He scored 22 runs off 73 deliveries, showing impressive touch with
the bat.
Both batsmen looked well set before rain came down on Lord’s, causing the match to be stopped. Later the umpires decided to abandon the game due to a wet outfield and constant showers.
On the other hand, while the Indians were marvelled by their ace seamer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Z-Khan-c98379’s performance, the pacer limped back to the pavilion. If in fact he has suffered an injury, the Indians might have to take the field on the second day without their number
one bowler.
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