England fast bowler Stuart Broad responded to the critics who have questioned his place in the side by bowling both India openers in the first Test at Lord’s yesterday.
Broad, bowling at a lively pace and swinging the ball from a full length, dismissed Gautam Gambhir (15) and Abhinav Mukund (49).
At lunch on the third day, India were 102 for two in reply to England’s 474 for eight declared.
Photo: Reuters
Sachin Tendulkar, who needs one more century to become the first man to score 100 international hundreds, was on 10 in what is likely to be his last Test at the headquarters of world cricket.
India made an assured start when play resumed yesterday with their total on 17.
Mukund, who made his Test debut in the Caribbean this year, scored the first run of the morning after three consecutive maidens. He had reached 12 when he slashed hard at Chris Tremlett and the ball fell just short of Jonathan Trott in the gully.
Broad replaced Anderson at the Pavilion end and Mukund picked up the first boundary of the day with a deft flick of his legs through mid-wicket.
He took consecutive fours off Tremlett on the leg-side as the England fast bowler struggled with his direction and played a delightful off-drive off Broad for another boundary.
Gambhir, much more subdued by comparison, was dismissed with the total on 63 when he was comprehensively bowled by a full-pitched delivery, which swung in late to the left-hander.
Mukund, substituting for the injured Virender Sehwag, followed his partner into the pavilion one short of what would have been his second Test half-century when he dragged another full-length ball on to his stumps.
Tendulkar, with the stage set for the greatest batsman of modern times to set a record unlikely to be beaten in the 2,000th Test and the 100th between the two countries, punched a ball only marginally short of a length from Tremlett to the cover boundary for his first four.
He was beaten outside the off stump by the same bowler in the next over and rapped on the pads with the following ball in the course of a fine second spell.
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