Saturday, July 23, 2011
India v England 1st Test Day 2: Pietersen double century helps England take control at Lord's
The second day of the first Test between England and India belonged to Kevin Pietersen, as his double century powered England to a very commanding position. kevin pietersen
The hard work that he did on the first day paid off here and he was at his commanding best in the latter half of his innings. He was involved in two hundred partnerships on the second day, with Ian Bell and Matt Prior, adding to the 98 that he added with Jonathan Trott. England eventually declared at 474/8 and the Indian openers played out a nervous six overs to end the day on 17/0.
The rains stayed away from Lord’s and that wasn’t a good thing for India. It was announced that Zaheer Khan wouldn’t bowl the whole day and India were in for a very long day, with just three bowlers around. Praveen Kumar was the lone shining light for India and finished with his first five wicket haul. He was excellent with his swing and made the batsman play and miss numerous times. However, he wasn’t given a helping hand on the other end and Pietersen made them pay the price.
Trott managed to add just 12 runs to his overnight score of 58, and was the first of five wickets that fell off Praveen Kumar. Bell joined Pietersen and by that time Pietersen was starting to look good. Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh were very disappointing and were scored off with relative ease by all the English batsmen. MS Dhoni took the matter into his own hands and came to bowl. However, the Indian captain’s swing had no bite and did not harm the English batsmen.
Praveen got two breakthroughs in the same over when he dismissed Bell and Eoin Morgan and it looked as if India were back into the game. However, Prior joined Pietersen and began to counter attack. This was Pietersen’s slowest century but it was easy to understand why he was in a cautious mood. This was also his first century in England after a span of three years, and it was also a statement to those critics who questioned his place in the side last season.
Praveen once again got a double breakthrough when England were on 390, and this managed to unleash Pietersen. Graeme Swann gave him company and the pair added 61 for the eighth wicket. Pietersen eventually completed his double century by scoring 16 runs off four balls off Suresh Raina.
India have another tough day tomorrow and it is in the hands of its batsmen to save this game.
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