CRICKET:These are the days when batsmen have to grit their teeth and battle, when the bowler for once can invade the world of his opponent with something a little more powerful as a weapon than a popgun.
Trent Bridge has been awash, a sodden sponge of a ground upon which the prognosis of any play was not optimistic. But for bowlers with the patience to wait, there promised, in a pitch not too far above the water-table, riches.
So it proved for India, the jail-breakers of Lord's, who having been given the opportunity of bowling first - as a decision a total no-brainer - took such advantage, even while not at their best, that as they returned to the pavilion, England had been reduced to 169 for seven. England's bowlers will relish the conditions no less and the help they get is not likely to be diminished significantly. India's batsmen, too, may have their work cut out.
Rahul Dravid won a toss that Michael Vaughan would have traded much for, and India were on their way. These are conditions where the challenge for seam bowlers is not to find movement but to harness its powers.
India's seam bowlers came at England in more concerted fashion than they had in the first innings at Lord's, the passage of play which all but settled the direction of the match as it turned out, but the England batsmen were complicit. Uncovered pitches would have taught them a thing or two.
The decline began with Andrew Strauss. His 96 at Lord's offered redemption and a lifting of the pressure on him, except in the ill-advised shuffle down the pitch that resulted in his dismissal: the impending 100 preyed on his mind. Yesterday he gained a boundary from a misfield but then drove expansively and edged to first slip, a fate reproduced for Vaughan, who was seduced into following one that left him, Sachin Tendulkar the catcher on each occasion. When Kevin Pietersen was lbw for 13, England were 47 for three and already in trouble.
Rescue after a fashion came from Alastair Cook and Paul Collingwood. Twice the latter clipped the ball to the midwicket fence. On 19, Cook appeared to survive an lbw shout that carried more credential than the one that saw the back of Pietersen but he had been batting with common sense, once swivelling to pull Zaheer Khan to the fence.
The fourth-wicket stand had produced 54 when Collingwood drove at a ball outside off stump but too near a good length to be wise. The inside edge clattered on to his middle peg. Three overs later, having made 43, Cook was lbw to Sourav Ganguly to leave England 109 for five.
India had worked their way down to the last recognised pair, with Ian Bell dominating the early stages of a 38-run stand with Matthew Prior. When Bell cut RP Singh through point it was only the second boundary in the 17 overs since tea, an indication of the stranglehold Dravid and his bowlers were managing to apply.
It was the wrist spin of Anil Kumble rather than seam which broke through to the tail, however, with Prior reaching away from himself and edging to slip for 11. Bell, meanwhile, had advanced to 31 when he was caught on the crease by Zaheer's inswing and was lbw.
Guardian Service
England: First Innings
A J Strauss c Tendulkar b Khan 4
A N Cook lbw b Ganguly 43
M P Vaughan c Tendulkar b Khan 9
K P Pietersen lbw b R P Singh 13
P D Collingwood b Sreesanth 28
I R Bell lbw b Khan 31
M J Prior c Dravid b Kumble 11
C T Tremlett not out 16
R J Sidebottom not out 0
Extras b4 lb7 nb3 pens 0 14
... ---
Total 7 wkts (55 overs) 169
Fall: 1-4, 2-24, 3-47, 4-101, 5-109, 6-147, 7-157.
To Bat: J M Anderson, M S Panesar.
Bowling: Khan 16-4-50-3; Sreesanth 12-7-16-1; R P Singh 10-1-56-1; Ganguly 8-4-11-1; Kumble 7-0-16-1; Tendulkar 2-0-9-0.
