A hat-trick from Stuart Broad and suspect shot selection by the Indian lower order allowed England to wrap up the Indian innings for 288 runs after the visitors were safely poised on 267 for the loss of four wickets. Asked to bat for 11 overs, England lost the wicket of Alastair Cook in the final hour of play; they trail India by 43 runs at stumps on Day 2.For India, old warhorse Rahul Dravid stood firm with a hard fought and vital century while England once again made a comeback on the young shoulders of Stuart Broad on Day 2 of the second Test. As he reached his third consecutive Test hundred, Dravid (117 runs) became the third Indian batsman after Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar to score 34 Test tons.
After a vital partnership with Laxman, Dravid found an able ally in Yuvraj Singh post the departures of Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina. Finding a place in the playing eleven due to an injury to Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh displayed an even temperament in his 62-run knock, stitching a partnership of 128 runs with Dravid before Broad struck.The in-form England bowler decided to wreck India’s party with the second new ball. He opened up Yuvraj Singh’s (62) defence with some extra bounce and then claimed the wickets of MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar off successive deliveries in the next over to end India’s hope of building a sizeable lead. In doing so, the local lad became the first bowler to claim a hat-trick at Trent Bridge and the only bowler to have accomplished this feat against India in Tests.
In the next over, Tim Bresnan claimed the resolute Dravid, giving in to a rare bout of frustration at the wickets falling around him, and India were reduced to 273 for nine. Ishant Sharma was the last Indian wicket to fall as Broad dismissed him for three runs. Losing the last six wickets for 21 runs, India managed a modest 67-run lead over the hosts after appearing to be in command before Broad’s magic spell.
In the first session of the day, VVS Laxman set the tone for the Indian innings cutting James Anderson for a four early on. Laxman, who had came in to bat on the second ball of the Indian innings yesterday, edged a Tim Bresnan delivery to the wicketkeeper after notching up his 54th half-century.
His partner, Dravid, was the quieter of the two batsmen as he held up one end. The duo put up a healthy 93-run partnership; even as James Anderson and Stuart Broad swung the ball both ways, the wristy stroke-maker and the technician went about scoring runs freely.
Sachin Tendulkar, who replaced Laxman, continued where the stylish Hyderbadi had left off, sending the ball to the fence soon after arriving at the crease. But he was to leave straight after lunch at 16, crushing all hopes of that 100thinternational hundred.
Though Yuvraj withstood the England attack to come out with a fighting half-century, the rest of the Indian line-up capitulated meekly, reducing the early advantage.
England’s will miss the services of their No. 2 batsman, the in-form Jonathan Trott, who will be unable to bat in the second innings due to a shoulder injury.
Brief Score (At the end of Day 1): England 1st innings 221 all out in 68.4 overs (Stuart Broad 64, A Strauss 32, P Kumar 3/45, I Sharma 3/66, S Sreesanth 3/77), India 1st innings 288 all out in 91.1 overs (Rahul Dravid 117, Yuvraj Singh 62, VVS Laxman 54, Stuart Broad 6/46); England 2nd Innings 24/1 in 11 overs (Andrew Strauss 6*, Ian Bell 9*, I Sharma 1/9)
