CRICKET/India v England, second Test: The golden rule of Test cricket in India is this: win the toss and make it count or pay the price. For the second time in the series Andrew Flintoff managed the first part and for the second time, the England top order failed to respond.
On what was a truncated first day - almost 40 overs were lost to bad light and unseasonal drizzle - Kevin Pietersen alone flourished, hitting 10 fours and a six in a spirited 64, full of his idiosyncratic but effective bottom-hand strokes.
But Irfan Pathan had struck twice with the new ball, removing the openers, and Anil Kumble did for Ian Bell, who offered no stroke to the googly. Munaf Patel then claimed Pietersen as his first Test victim during a compelling late spell in which he began to reverse-swing the ball.
"I've been in a really good zone these past few days, because I was really cross getting out 13 runs short last week," said Pietersen. "I was infuriated - and I am pretty cross again today."
At 163 for four overnight, England had much on which to ponder. In Nagpur, on the opening day of the series, they had been similarly placed only for Paul Collingwood and Flintoff to pull things round.
So there was some reassurance to see the pair together when they took the final offer of bad light with an hour still to play.
Collingwood looked entrenched and there had just been time for Flintoff to clip Munaf Patel to the midwicket boundary. But the close was a relief for both batsmen.
Patel, who had tormented England with 10 wickets in the second warm-up match in Baroda, clearly had the scent of blood in his nostrils. Even in the brightest conditions, reverse-swung yorkers at around 90mph are a match for most batsmen.
In the gloom that persisted, with the Punjab Cricket Association ground's 16 floodlights casting only watery light of no consequence, there was potential for disaster.
Indeed Collingwood, during a concerted assault on his toes, was fortunate to survive when one ball spun backwards from beneath his last-minute jab-down, and avoided his leg stump by a smidgeon.
The pre-match thinking of both sides, poles apart, was instructive. England opted to add more punch to the pace attack by giving Liam Plunkett a second Test at the expense of the left-arm spinner Ian Blackwell while India dropped the batsmen Mohammad Kaif and VVS Laxman with Yuvraj Singh returning after injury and a debut given to the 17-year-old leg-spinner Piyush Chawla - second only to a 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar as India's youngest debutant - as a foil to the old hands Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.
Patel, who would have made the squad for the first Test had the selectors met a couple of days later than they did, replaced Sri Sreesanth, who has been suffering with a virus.
Given the immense start to his Test career, Andrew Strauss's lack of runs this winter must be preying on him.
He has looked solid and has been getting good starts. But as in the first Test, an injudicious stroke cost him his wicket. Pathan's delivery was short and wide and should have been ignored. Strauss chased and nicked it, with Mahendra Dhoni claiming a low catch. For a quality batsman, a string of middling scores is less forgiveable than a run of noughts.
Meanwhile Alastair Cook had settled in to play his own watchful game, only to be beaten by clever bowling from Pathan.
An away-swinger to the left-hander, followed by one that darted in, catching him off-balance and hitting all round his front pad. The lbw decision was a formality.
Pietersen, though, has now passed 50 seven times in his 10 Tests, and yesterday he was in control. Such is the power and dominance of his bottom hand, his strokes frequently resemble a hockey player sending a long pass downfield.
He was brutal through the on side, particularly so on Chawla, who having been eased into Test cricket with a gentle maiden to herald the lunch break, found himself biffed over midwicket for six immediately after.
Occasionally though there is a feeling that Pietersen adds embellishment where it might not be necessary, and it was such perhaps that brought his downfall shortly before the close. He is a tall man and capable of playing a full stroke further on the rise than many.
Twice he tried to force Patel in this manner through extra cover and twice he failed, mistiming both. It ought to have served as a warning.
The third time the ball was straighter and gained a fraction more bounce and from somewhere near the splice the batsman punted a return catch.
It was the decisive wicket of the day, for Pietersen was in the mood to take the game away from India. Instead England face an uphill task today.
Guardian Service
India v England (Mohali)
England First Innings Close
A J Strauss c Dhoni b Pathan 18
A N Cook lbw b Pathan 17
I R Bell b Kumble 38
K P Pietersen c & b M M Patel 64
P D Collingwood not out 19
A Flintoff not out 4
Extras lb1 nb2 pens 0 3
Total 4 wkts (50.3 overs) ... 163
Fall: 1-35, 2-36, 3-117, 4-157.
To Bat: G O Jones, L E Plunkett, M J Hoggard, S J Harmison, M S Panesar.
Bowling: Pathan 16 3 54 2 M M Patel 11.3 1 44 1 Harbhajan Singh 6 0 15 0 Piyush Chawla 5 1 20 0 Kumble 12 3 29 1.
