England v India: 2nd Test Match – In-depth Analysis Part 2
India would have been pleased after dismissing England for 221 runs on day-one of the second Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham in England on Friday, July 29, 2011.
The conditions were ideal for the bowlers, as the ball did quite a few tricks both in the air and off the pitch. This helped the visitors’ seamers to dominate the first day’s play.
On the other hand, the Poms would not have been completely disappointed with their performance, as the team gained some momentum towards the end of the day. They were 124/8 at one stage of the innings, but recovered well to reach 221 in the end.
India had to bat a few overs before close of play on day-one. The team’s objective would have been to survive the remaining overs and start fresh on the next day.
The conditions were still good for the bowlers, as the ball was moving around and the clouds had covered the field.
The start to the visitors’ innings was not an ideal one, as opening batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Abhinav-Mukund-c41758 was dismissed off the very first delivery.
However, veteran players http://www.senore.com/Cricket/VVS-Laxman-c2772 survived the remaining overs in the day. They had much better conditions to bat on the second day and made most of them.
The pair put together 93 runs for the second wicket partnership, guiding the team into a comfortable position. The conditions indicated that the world number one Test team would be able to bounce back strongly in the series.
Laxman got out after contributing 54 runs to the total with the help of 10 boundaries. He played extremely well, laying a solid platform for the batsmen to follow.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Tendulkar-c2556 failed to impress in the first match at Lord’s and continued his poor run of form at Trent Bridge. The Master Blaster got out after adding 16 runs to the total.
Middle-order batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SK-Raina-c2539 was also unable to make a significant impact, getting out for 12 runs.
All of the sudden, the visitors looked in some trouble, as they had lost four wickets for 139 runs on the board. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/G-Gambhir-c1447, walked out in the middle to join Dravid.
The pair played solid cricket, collecting a century partnership for the fifth wicket. They put together 128 runs, guiding the team into a very strong position.
The partnership was finally broken, as Singh got out after scoring a valiant half-century. He collected 62 runs with the help of 10 boundaries.
Although five wickets had fallen down in the Indian innings, they appeared to get away with a first innings lead of at-least 150 at that stage of the innings.
However, things changed dramatically for the Men in Blue, as they were devastated once again by young all-rounder http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 with a terrific hat-trick.
India’s skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harbhajan-Singh-c61453, who was given leg-before-wicket to a ball he had edged onto his pads.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/P-Kumar-c2143 was the one, giving hat-trick to the local boy. The spectators in Nottingham erupted with joy, as their local hero led the recovery for his side yet again.
Dravid was watching the chaos at the other end and played a rash stroke, ending his fabulous innings. The solid player collected 117 runs for his side and was followed by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/I-Sharma-c1566, who was the last wicket to fall in the innings.
Broad ended the day with his head high, picking up a six-wicket haul in the innings including his maiden hat-trick in international cricket.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 still managed to take a first innings lead of 67 runs, but could have been in a much better position. The team lost their last 6 wickets for just 21 runs.
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