Cricket: Paul Collingwood smashed his maiden test century to help England fight back to 360 for nine in the second day of the first test against India.
The 29-year-old Durham batsman marshalled the tail-enders admirably to go into the break 109 not out with last man Monty Panesar (one) also at the stumps.
England were struggling at 246 for seven overnight before Collingwood took the innings by the scruff of the neck, hoisting off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for a straight six to reach 99 and then picking a triple on the next ball.
Collingwood, who struck nine fours and three sixes, has held the innings together for his injury-depleted team for more than five hours. The one-day specialist had come close to reaching 100 in his last two innings in the third test in Lahore in December, falling at 96 and 80.
England added 116 runs for the last four wickets, a valiant effort in the absence of injured captain Michael Vaughan and vice captain Marcus Trescothick, who pulled out due to personal reasons.
On 53 overnight, Collingwood added 23 runs for the eighth wicket with Matthew Hoggard, who made 11 and stayed put for almost one hour to frustrate Indian bowlers. He then added a solid 60 runs for the next wicket with Steve Harmison, who made a 42-ball 39.
Harmison smashed Sreesanth for three consecutive fours, all authentic shots, to take England past the 300-run mark, scoring seven boundaries in all.
Opening batsman Alastair Cook scored 60 on his test debut and captain Flintoff contributed 43 yesterday. England, aiming to win a test series in India for the first time in 21 years, play three tests and seven one-dayers.