Cricket:Stuart Broad fed off the goodwill of his home crowd as he and his Nottinghamshire team-mate Graeme Swann pulled England back into contention on day one of the second Test at Trent Bridge.
Broad (64) and Swann unleashed a stream of boundaries after tea to breathe life into an England innings which was threatening to expire at 124 for eight against Indian seam and swing.
Their 73-run stand was plundered at better than a run-a-ball as England rescued a total of 221 and India then closed an eventful day on 24 for one.
Broad and Swann have had their moments with the bat together for England before - notably in defiance in the 2009 Ashes defeat at Headingley and they were soon at it again.
“We always have some good fun. We’ve had some exciting partnerships in the past,” said Broad, who registered his second successive Test half-century.
“It was a great reception here at Trent Bridge, and we managed to pick up on that and build some momentum and get us back into the game.”
England’s ninth-wicket pair joined forces in distinctly unpromising circumstances after Shantha Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma had shared the clatter of wickets.
Broad did not try to claim he had put England in charge, but believes they are back in with a chance of adding victory here to their first-Test success at Lord’s.
“Certainly India won three quarters of the day I thought they bowled brilliantly,” he said.
“At tea it was India’s day 100 per cent, but we are delighted to have wrestled our way back into the game.”
The timing of Broad and Swann’s counter-attack was perfect.
“We had a little chat at tea, and thought we needed to grab the momentum back. That was by playing our natural games.
“If there was any sort of width on the ball, I was going to throw my hands at it. There was still a little bit of swing there, so it was quite hard to go hell for leather, but I knew we had to get the Indian bowlers off their line and length – which they’d bowled so well all day. So that was the tactic, and it paid off for a little while.”
The outcome put the onus back on India to dig in with the bat in conditions which still favoured bowlers significantly.
“At 100 for six, we’re delighted to finish on 221. I think we’ve got a really good shout,” added Broad.