England v India: First Test match Recap - England’s First Innings Recap
England crushed the number one Test team of the world, India, by 196 runs in the first of the four-match Test series, at the Lord’s, London in England on Monday, July 25, 2011.
The visitors had to chase down 458 runs for victory, which didn’t seem likely at all, as they had a little over one day remaining in the match.
However, it was a good chance for the Poms to take the 10 wickets required to win the Test match. It wasn’t the easiest thing to do, as the Lord’s wicket was good for the batsmen on the fourth and fifth days of play.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 had a solid batting line-up and would have been confident of saving the game, but failed to do so in the end.
England’s pacers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SCJ-Broad-c2465 spoiled the party for the tourists though, dismissing them for 261 with al-least 30 overs of play left in the day.
Earlier, the match had started positively for the Indian team, as their skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 won the toss on an overcast day and opted to field first. He expected his bowlers to dismiss the opposition cheaply in order to take the upper hand in the game.
The home team did struggle a bit at the start of the innings, losing their in-form opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 early. The tall left-handed batsman managed just 12 runs in his short stay at the crease and was caught plumb in front of the stumps.
England’s skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/I-Sharma-c1566.
Strauss would have been disappointed after failing to make most of the start he got to his innings. He got out after scoring 22 runs with the help of a couple of boundaries.
The innings was then put back on track by the dependable http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806. The pair put together 98 runs for the third-wicket partnership, guiding their team into a solid position.
Trott got out after adding a solid 70 runs to the total. He came in at a stage when the ball was doing a lot of tricks, but batted with effortless ease.
Middle-order player, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/IR-Bell-c1597, missed-out on a half-century by five runs, getting out for 45. However, he was involved in a 110-run stand with Pietersen, which put the hosts into a solid position.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Prior-c1984 and Pietersen collected 120 runs for the sixth wicket partnership.
Prior got out after scoring 71 runs, but Pietersen remained unbeaten on a marathon 202 runs. The innings was declared on 474/8, as soon as the flamboyant batsman reached his double-ton.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 from getting a solid total.
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