London: A depleted India face an Herculean task to save the first Test against England at Lord’s after the hosts set them a record target of 458 runs courtsey Matt Prior and Stuart Broad’s brilliant knocks in an absorbing day’s contest in the 2000th Test.
Prior (103) and Broad (74) pulled England out of trouble with a 162 run stand for the seventh wicket. Ishant Sharma (4-59) had wrecked the England top order reducing them to 62/5 in an incisive spell of fast bowling. England declared their second innings at 269/6.
Set the improbable target 12 overs after tea, India lost Abhinav Mukund (12) before veterans Rahul Dravid (34) and VVS Laxman (32) guided India to 80/1 at stumps in 27 overs. India will have to bat 98 overs on Monday to save the Test.
The world record for highest successful chase is 418 by West Indies against Australia in 2003. West Indies have also completed the record chase at Lord’s, 344 in 1984.
But the problem of the World No.1 team is that Gautam Gambhir has joined the injury list with Zaheer Khan and to make matters worse Sachin Tendulkar is fighting viral infection.
Tendulkar did not take the field for the first two sessions which means he can come out to bat only at No.7 or after 4hrs and 18 mins, the time he spent out of the field.
Gambhir hurt his elbow, hit by a Prior shot and had to go for an X-ray of his left hand.
Zaheer has still not recovered from the hamstring strain he suffered on the first day and did not come out to bowl even in the second innings.
In the face of such adversity, first innings centurion Dravid joined Mukund to open the innings.
Mukund looked solid till he dragged a Broad delivery onto the stumps.
Dravid and Laxman then settled down for a familiar grind. They showed determination, as often they have in their long careers to bail India out of such situations.
England pacers Broad, Chris Tremlett and James Andreson however made it difficult for them getting steep bounce and movement off the pitch. But the two stood solid and stroked some elegant boundaries. Dravid’s backfoot drive off Graeme Swann and Laxman hitting Tremlett for three consecutive fours were the highlight of their stand.
The start of the day, however, brought hope for India as Ishant, who was wayward in the first innings, found his rhythm.
England, resuming at 5/0 and looking to consolidate their huge first innings lead of 188, were stunned by Ishant’s onslaught.
Praveen Kumar, who took five wickets in the England’s first innings, dismissed Alastair Cook caught behind and Harbhajan Singh took out a well set England skipper Andrew Strauss (32) lbw. Both Praveen and Harbhajan bowled tight spells and kept the pressure on England.
Ishant’s first wicket of the day was of double centurion Kevin Pietersen. He then dismissed Ian Bell four balls later. Jonathan Trott (22) was Ishant’s next victim. At lunch, England were reeling at 72/5.
But Prior and Broad swung the pendulum England’s way. The two slammed 95 runs in 12 overs after tea. In all Prior hit five fours and one six while Broad broke the shackles with nine fours. (IANS)