CRICKET FIRST TEST:MATT PRIOR'S sixth Test century put England in a strong position heading in to the final day of the first Test at Lord's after they set India an unlikely target of 458 to win.
India faced 27 overs at the end of the fourth day, closing on 80 for one after Stuart Broad bowled Abhinav Makund for 12 and face a maximum 98 overs today.
Prior (103 not out) and Broad (74 not out) added 162 for the seventh wicket before Andrew Strauss declared his team’s innings closed for the second time in the match on 269 for six.
The highest total to win at Lord’s remains the 344 for one scored by West Indies in 1984 while the biggest winning total anywhere is West Indies 418 for seven against Australia in 2003.
India opened with first innings centurion Rahul Dravid in place of Gautam Gambhir, who left the field after he was hit painfully on the left arm at short-leg after a full-blooded sweep from Prior.
To add to their woes, Sachin Tendulkar, still one short of his 100th international century, has to wait until 258 minutes of the Indian innings has elapsed or the fifth wicket has fallen before he can bat as he was absent from the field for most of the day because of a viral infection. He still has to wait for around two hours 20 minutes today.
Prior, who scored 71 in the first innings, demonstrated his value again at number seven. His second 50 took only 42 balls, including a pulled six off Suresh Raina’s occasional off-spin.
Broad, who recorded his highest test score of 169 against Pakistan at Lord’s last year also played an innings of genuine quality with one dazzling off-drive to the boundary.
The pair scored at just under a run a ball although India were merely going through the motions in the latter stages of the partnership as they waited for the declaration.
Indian captain MS Dhoni was reduced to bowling himself for the third time in the match, while Rahul Dravid donned the wicketkeeper’s gloves and pads, in partnership with Raina to a widespread field.
Ishant Sharma, who conceded 128 runs without taking a wicket in England’s first innings, rocked England in the morning session with three wickets in 16 balls to reduce the home side to 62 for five.
The tall paceman dismissed Kevin Pietersen (one), Ian Bell (duck) and Jonathan Trott (22). He followed up with the wicket of Eoin Morgan (19) after the interval.
Pietersen, England’s first innings hero with an unbeaten 202, edged a steepling delivery to Dhoni behind the stumps, with the same combination accounting for Bell in the same over after he nibbled at one outside the off stump.
Mysteriously Dhoni did not call on Sharma until 11 overs had been bowled after the lunch interval when he accounted for Morgan for 19, caught by Gautam Gambhir diving forward at mid-wicket after he failed to get hold of a pull shot.
