India battled to be 73-2 at lunch on the first day of the second Test against England at Lord’s yesterday after being sent in to bat on a seaming pitch.
Cheteshwar Pujara was 11 not out and Virat Kohli 20 not out.
However, India would have been in a weaker position had not England wicketkeeper Matt Prior dropped two catches.
He put down opener Murali Vijay on nought and then, off the last ball before lunch, dropped Kohli after part-time off-spinner Moeen Ali found the outside edge.
After England captain Alastair Cook called for a pitch with more pace and bounce following an excessively docile surface in the drawn first Test at Trent Bridge, it was no surprise he opted to field after winning the toss when confronted with a light-green strip at Lord’s.
James Anderson struck in the third over of the match when he had left-hander Shikhar Dhawan well caught low down at third slip by Gary Ballance after the ball pitched outside the leg-stump and cut away sharply to take the outside edge.
Dhawan’s exit saw Anderson become the most successful bowler in Tests in England, his 230th wicket surpassing the record of England fast-bowling great Fred Trueman.
India’s 11-1 should have become 11-2 when Vijay — who made a century at Trent Bridge — was dropped by Prior, diving to his right, off Stuart Broad.
Anderson did not concede a run until his 32nd delivery, with Vijay edging the Lancashire seamer unconvincingly through the slips for four.
England, though, were generally bowling too short in the conditions.
However, first-change Liam Plunkett was rewarded for pitching up when he dismissed Vijay, aiming legside, for 20 with the aid of another fine catch by Ballance to leave India 48-2.
Prior, who has struggled with Achilles and thigh injuries this season, then reprieved Kohli — a far easier chance than the one he dropped off Vijay.
Both teams were unchanged for the second of this five-match series.
That meant England included Anderson, and India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, after both players were charged by the opposition side for offenses under the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) code of conduct following a flare-up at lunch on the second day of the first Test.
They each now risk being banned from matches during the remainder of the series should an ICC judicial commissioner, at a date to be announced, uphold the charges.
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