The 2000th Test - England v India – 1st Test – 3rd Day’s Recap
England 474/8d & 5/0 (5.0 ov) v India 286 - England lead by 193 runs with 10 wickets remaining
After ending the second day by posting 17 runs without a loss, the Indian openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/G-Gambhir-c1447 began the day’s proceedings with India trailing by 457 runs with 10 wickets in hand on the third day of the first Test between India and England at Lord’s, London.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JM-Anderson-c1705 bowled the seventh over of the Indian innings and the first over of the day which went scoreless as the Indians took a tentative start. The first three overs of the day did not see a run scored which showed that the Indians were in no hurry to respond to the mammoth tally of 474 runs posted by England in their first innings.
Nonetheless, the crowd were least interested in what the Indian openers had to offer than what batting maestro http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Tendulkar-c2556 had stored for the English side. While many Indian fans hated to see the fall of a wicket but on the same time they were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Tendulkar on the crease, to possibly see him score his 100th century.
Meanwhile, the Indian openers played superbly well against the English bowlers who are always tough to smack under home conditions. Nonetheless, the home side finally drew first blood, when in the 19th over of the day, England’s pacer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SCJ-Broad-c2465 shattered Gambhir’s stumps after the batsman had scored 15 runs off 46 deliveries.
Gambhir’s departure saw the arrival of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-Dravid-c2229, the man they call “The Wall”. Coming at number three, Dravid had a huge responsibility on his shoulders to help his team overcome England’s lead. The mild mannered middle-order batsman exhibited nerves of steel as he took on the English bowlers with confidence.
In the 25th over, Broad hit timber once again by grabbing the wicket of Mukund, who went back to the pavilion after playing a commendable innings of 49 off 88 deliveries.
Then it was finally time for the Master Blaster to take his guard at the Lord’s cricket ground as the crowd gave him a standing ovation on his way into the field.
The presence of Dravid and Sachin on the crease was an obvious bother for the English captain Andrew Strauss, as he was well aware of the fact that if these two batsmen were given enough time on the wicket the pair would be a hard nut to crack.
However, before the two veterans could establish a formidable partnership, the lanky Broad, who was having a great day, struck gold when his delivery was edged by Tendulkar, straight in the hands of Graeme Swann at second slip. The crowd went into a shock as they could not believe that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Chinnadupargea-Sachin-c50607 had failed to score his hundred as the batsman walked back after knocking 34 runs with the bat.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Christopher-Timothy-Tremlett-c51014. At the time of his departure the Indians had scored 182 runs for the loss of four wickets.
After Laxman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GP-Swann-c1501.
On the other end, Dravid kept the score board ticking as he played the English bowlers with class and style, but at the same time English bowlers were grabbing wickets at will at the other end.
Skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028, could muster only 28 runs, as he too struggled to middle the ball. The Indian captain was caught in the slips by Swann, off a delivery by Tremlett, when the score was 240 runs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Prior-c1984 to pounce on, as he tried to go after Tremlett.
Singh was Tremlett’s third victim on the third day as the bowler seemed to have regained full form and fitness by bowling exceptionally well, alongside James Anderson and Broad.
However, with so much going in the match, Dravid did not lose his composure and smacked an inspirational 103-run knock, proving once again that he still has cricket left in him. It were the efforts of Dravid that averted a follow-on as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/I-Sharma-c1566 fell, leaving the charismatic Dravid unbeaten in the first innings.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 on nil.
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