Indian reply no more than a whisper

On Friday, the second day of this Test, Dravid lost his wicket to James Anderson, the ball finding a thick edge of his bat and heading into wicket-keeper Matthew Prior8217;s gloves. The Indian captain had scored only two and India were tottering after the early dismissal of opener Dinesh Kaarthick when Anderson and his teammates joined the celebrations.

Dravid8217;s wicket brought Tendulkar to the crease, the soft clapping from spectators in the stands deafening in its own way to mark his arrival.

In imperious form recently, Tendulkar got off to the kind of start that had seen him score an excellent 171 at Chelmsford in the warm-up game. A lot was beginning to be expected from him once again, the way he handled the trio of Anderson, Sidebottom and Tremlett8212;the ball not having missed the sweet spot of his bat ever since he had scored that last hundred.

When Monty Panesar was given the ball Tendulkar, already on 30 and looking set, the mood at Lord8217;s grew interesting in the expectation of a great battle. Panesar, to his credit, has Tendulkar8217;s wicket as his first ever, and again they hoped he would have the last laugh here. Tendulkar handled Panesar well, the latter8217;s inexperience forcing him to bowl way down the leg-side.

However, the anticipation of a Test hundred at Lord8217;s and Tendulkar8217;s innings saving the blushes for India here today didn8217;t last long. It was Anderson again, and the wild swing that made for treacherous conditions that caught the batsman plumb.

Surprisingly, the only batsman who8217;d been carrying his bat all this while was opener Wasim Jaffer. The right-hander8217;s last tour of England had resulted in his sacking from the team and it was once again the tour of England helping him prove his mettle here.

After Kaarthick got deceived by Sidebottom, crushing Dravid8217;s hope that he would provide yet another solid start, it was Jaffer who kept his head on his shoulders to negate the swing. Until it was time for press, the 28-year-old had reached his half century, seven boundaries8212;laced with a couple of typically enticing Jaffer-cover drives.

At the other end, Sourav Ganguly had joined him as India found themselves lagging behind by more than 150 runs and three wickets gone.

It was here that Ganguly had begun his career, the glorious 131 in England8217;s routinely overcast conditions, giving him the boost of a lifetime. There has been talk already about him coming back to where it had all began and now if the southpaw can come up with something special, life couldn8217;t ever turn a fuller circle for him.

Then Jaffer went, caught and bowled Tremlett. It was an excellent diving catch to the front as a short ball was offered back lamely by Jaffer. He had made 58.

India finishing the day at 145 for four, Sourav remained unbeaten on a rather patchy and lucky 25 76 minutes.

India need runs and more than what just England finished with8212;268. they still lead by 156 runs. The bowlers have found the touch, as Sreesanth showed in his late burst to grab three quick wickets, and if batsmen can follow suit, there8217;s still a game on the cards.

Scoreboard

England 1st Innings Overnight 268/4

K Pietersen c Dhoni b Khan 37, R Sidebottom b RP Singh 1, I Bell b Khan 20, M Prior lbw Sreesanth 1, C Tremlett lbw Sreesanth 0, M Panesar lbw Sreesanth 0, J Anderson not out 0

Extras b9, lb10, w7, nb2: 28; Total All out, 91.2 overs: 298

Fall of wickets: 1-76, 2-218, 3-252, 4-255, 5-272, 6-286, 7-287, 8-287, 9-297

Bowling: Z Khan 18.2-4-62-2, S Sreesanth 22-8-67-3, RP Singh 17-6-58-2, S Ganguly 9-3-24-1, A Kumble 23-2-60-2, S Tendulkar 2-0-8-0

INDIA 1st Innings: D Kaarthick lbw Sidebottom 5, W Jaffer c038;b Tremlett 58, R Dravid c Prior b Anderson 2, S Tendulkar lbw Anderson 37, S Ganguly batting 25, RP Singh batting 5

Extras b4, lb7, nb2: 13; Total For 4 wkts, 57 overs: 145

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-27, 3-106, 4-134

Bowling: R Sidebottom 16-4-48-1, J Anderson 15-5-26-2, C Tremlett 15-8-29-1, P Collingwood 3-1-9-0, M Panesar 8-3-22-0