Obdurate Dravid gives India the edge over England
India 288 all out :
NOTTINGHAM, England, July 30 (AFP) - India's Rahul Dravid was closing
in on his second century in as many matches in the second Test at Trent
Bridge here on Saturday after England again denied Sachin Tendulkar his
100th international hundred.
Dravid's 83 not out led India, 1-0 down in this four-match series, to
215 for four at tea on the second day -- just six runs behind England's
first innings 221.
Yuvraj Singh made England pay for dropping him on four by advancing
to 43 not out and adding an unbroken 76 for the fifth wicket with
Dravid.
Dravid, second behind Tendulkar in Test cricket's list of all-time
run-scorers, made 103 not out during England's 196-run series-opening
victory at Lord's.
Tendulkar, who came in and walked out to a standing ovation, fell for
16 to his sixth ball after lunch when he edged a cut off Stuart Broad,
bowling on his Nottinghamshire home ground, to England captain Andrew
Strauss at first slip.
In all the 38-year-old 'Little Master', hampered by a virus while
making 34 and 12 at Lord's, batted for 34 minutes and faced 34 balls
with three fours.
The departure of Tendulkar, whose 51 Test hundreds and 48 in one-day
internationals are both world records, left India 119 for three.
England suffered a setback when batsman Jonathan Trott fell awkwardly
on his left shoulder after diving at mid-off in an attempt to stop a run
and had to leave the field.
Dravid, opening the face in typically elegant style, guided seamer
Broad down to third man for four to complete a 131-ball fifty with 10
boundaries. By tea he had faced 195 deliveries and hit 11 fours.
But England had another wicket when left-hander Suresh Raina, trying
to force the ball through the offside, was caught at backward point by
Eoin Morgan off James Anderson.
Lancashire swing bowler Anderson then greeted new batsman Yuvraj
Singh with two excellent lifting deliveries outside off-stump. However
Yuvraj, in for injured fellow left-hander Gautam Gambhir, got off the
mark with a boundary when he cut a short delivery from Broad.
But he should have been out next ball when he steered Broad into the
gully only for Kevin Pietersen to drop the seemingly routine two-handed
catch.
|