Indian bowlers justified their skipper Rahul Dravid's decision to field first by making full use of the conditions to reduce England to 169 for 7 at the close of a rain-shortened first day of the second Test at Trent Bridge on Friday.
The bowlers drew advantage of the pitch that was offering plenty of movement and took control of the match from the word go. Zaheer Khan led the attack and finished with three wickets, while the rest of the bowlers also got the swing throughout the day. India sent back Andrew Strauss (4), skipper Michael Vaughan (9) and Kevin Pietersen (13) before the total had reached 50.
At the close of the day's play, Chris Tremlett (16) and Ryan Sidebottom (0) were at the crease.
The seamers - Zaheer and RP Singh claimed three early wickets to reduce England to 94 for 3 at tea after a delayed four hours start of the match due to the wet ground conditions.
It was Zaheer, who got the early breakthrough for India, taking both Andrew Strauss and Michael Vaughan, to give the visitors a perfect start after England was put in to bat.And although, Kevin Peitersen and Alastair Cook weathered a brief storm but R P Singh soon grabbed the big wicket of the dangerman Pietersen for just 13.
But after tea, Collingwood and Cook tried to ensure that there was no further damage and they went on to share a valuable partnership of 54 runs. But their resistance was brief and Sreesanth made up for a lacklustre first session with a critical strike to see off Collingwood for 28. And then it was Sourav Ganguly, who got rid of Cook for a second time in the series and put India in the drivers seat at 109 for 5. Ganguly during his spell, maintained a perfect line and length, while he constantly kept the English batsmen under pressure.
However, after Cook's dismissal, another partnership between Prior and Ian Bell flourished for a while but Kumble came to India's rescue by sending the Prior back to the pavilion for 11and finally, Zaheer took his third wicket of the day by clinching the wicket of the last expert batsman of the Engalnd line-up - Ian Bell. So, India now will just have to deal with the English tail-enders tomorrow.
Both teams have named the same XI that played the first Test at Lord’s.The three-Test series is tied 0-0 after the Lord's match ended in a draw.
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