London: Rahul Dravid struck a gritty unbeaten 103 but got little support from his team-mates as India conceded a mammoth 188-run lead to give England the upper hand on the third day of the first cricket Test at the Lord’s here on Saturday.
The 38-year-old Dravid notched up his 33rd Test ton and moved to second spot in all time list of Test run getters behind Sachin Tendulkar as India folded up for 286 at the fag end of the third day. England had declared their first innings at 474 for eight on Friday.
Opener Abhinav Mukund (49), Tendulkar (34) and and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (28) got the starts but could not translate them into substantial knocks on a track which provided assistance to fast bowlers.
For the home side, Stuart Broad claimed four for 37 while his pace colleagues Chris Tremlett and James Anderson took three and two wickets respectively. Off-spinner Graeme Swann got one wicket.
England were five for no loss in their second innings at stumps with an overall lead of 193 runs. Captain Andrew Strauss and his opening partner Alastair Cook were batting on three and zero respectively.
Dravid’s unbeaten ton saved India from the ignominy of being following on but with two full days left in the historic Test, England were firmly on the drivers’ seat and they will push for a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
The talk ahead of the Lord’s Test centered around Tendulkar’s impending 100th international ton, but it was Dravid who stole the show with his resolute batting though he was dropped when on 42.
His unbeaten 103, which came from 220 balls with the help of 15 boundaries, was also his maiden century at the hallowed Lord’s after he missed the three digit figure by five runs at the same venue in his debut match in 1996.
Dravid came into bat at the stroke of first drinks interval, the 19th over of the innings, and carried his bat through India’s first innings, spending 334 minutes in all at the crease.
A cause of concern for India was the continued absence of paceman Zaheer Khan, who is suffering from a right hamstring strain, in the five overs of England batting before stumps.
Tailender Praveen Kumar contributed 17 runs of his own in a eighth wicket stand of 35 runs with Dravid, sometimes smashing the ball on the up and on other occasions backing away towards square leg and throwing his bat with gay abandon.
Kumar’s luck ran out when Broad was again brought into attack. The tall quick bowlers sent down a sharp bouncer and the reflexive action of Kumar to hit it could only result in a lob for Strauss to run up behind his position at first slip and accept the chance.
Dravid was on 94 then and to partner him, injured Zaheer Khan emerged from the dressing room with runner Kumar in tow.
The excitement was palpable but Dravid made sure the wait for his century was not long. He first caressed a full-pitched Tremlett delivery to cover boundary and then flicked a shot towards widish mid-on for a couple to raise his century.
The end of India’s innings though was near as Anderson first cleaned up Zaheer and after a while claimed Ishant Sharma caught behind the wicket to bring a lid on the visiting side’s resistance.
Earlier, Tendulkar failed to notch up his 100th international century at the hallowed Lord’s as he fell for 34, at the ‘home of cricket’.
In all three wickets fell in the post-lunch session which could have been worse had England accepted two chances in one over, the wickets-on-offer being no less than that of VVS Laxman and Dravid. (PTI)