England vs India 1st test debate

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England side:

1) Andrew Strauss (C)
2) Alistair Cook
3) Jonathan Trott
4) Kevin Pietersen
5) Ian Bell
6) Eoin Morgan
7) Matt Prior (WK)
8) Stuart Broad
9) Graeme Swann
10) Chris Tremlett
11) James Anderson

India side.

1) Abhinav Makund
2) Gautam Gambhir
3) Rahul Dravid (WK)
4) Sachin Tendulkar
5) VVS Laxman
6) Suresh Raina
7) MS Dhoni (C)
8) Harbhajan Singh
9) Zaheer Khan
10) Praveen Kumar
11) Ishant Sharma

Should be a terrific match and series!

My Prediction: England to win

Series Prediction: 1-1

C'mon England!

Sharma seemed to take an age with that over.

With England it'd be nice to think it was just a plan. Give away the wickets of the top guys to give the middle and lower such much needed practice they'll need in this series. It'd be very demoralising to do that and then come back well and get a good total. Total hogwash of course but it'd be nice to think it.

i guess it's worth remembering that we were put in, in the worst conditions of this match. In that sense to be getting close to a lead of 400 for India to chase in the fourth would surely have been a position they'd have been delighted with. India will have expected the lead and a tiddly fourth innings chase again.

Just seems silly they batted so well during that period and so poorly in lovely conditions today.

commentators crack me up

In fairness, England really should declare if they get a lead of 420. That will still give India some hope and they might go for it.

indias peerless legends likely to breeze to 420 Billy or could Eng nail them?

na they wont breeze that

Sachin to score all 420 runs on his own.

hasn't he got cockney belly though?

he cant bat till number 7

Well, he's back out fielding, so maybe the docs gave him some pills to tide him over?

Tough cookies these Indians.

I think that 420 is a big target to chase and it will leave England with enough overs to bowl them out.

have to say i'm happier than earlier on. That was the ghost of old england that was.

Getting up near a 400 target for their opponents is a bit more like it.

One of Broads very best. He was up againsty a fired up India and he has taken it to them. Well played.

This is a great fight back from England, they were under cosh but have hit back well

Broad continues his impressive Lord's form and reaches his 50 as well. Just another 30 or so needed IMO. Hope Strauss declares by then.

Excellent 50 from Broad. Nearly a 100 partnership as well.

Yep these two need to whack up 30 more I think and then Eng can have a little go at India.

I think Indias confidence that they had won this will have wained slightly and they will know there is work to do.

Nearly the record score needed for India now.

Get 30 more eng and get em quickly. Surely risks can be taken now?

420 - 430 will be the target. I expect a declaration soon. Excellent partnership.

Yes excellent work from 62-5. I reckon next wicket Strauss will declare or as you say Billy..425 ish

This is a bit cheeky from Dhoni......

Doesnt look like Gambhir will bat in the second innings, such a shame for India

With Prior on 82 maybe Strauss will wait until he gets his ton?

Looks like Matty P is in a hurry to get his 100. Goes all T20 and smacks a six off Raina.

Just look at the run rate as well for this partnership. Simply brilliant.
6 for Prior, is Strauss waiting for him to get his ton??

Well that is a great change of pace.

i bet India are gutted, they can't have seen this recovery. england of old would have been out for less than 80.

This is what i like about this new England team. When some fail, others always stand up.

It's carnage now...c'mon get Prior on strike so he can get his ton.

Here we go........

Well played Prior

Brilliant 100 from Prior.

Steady for the first 50, he really accelerated for the second to get 103 off 120. Simply Amazing!

And England declare with the lead a whopping 457. Expect India will just try to hang on for a draw.

Broad smashes them to bits here.

This must hurt. can they get this and win or will they be just trying to survive now?

after all the glory this morning India have been hurt for the rest of the day.

It has to be concerning for India now. Especially since Broad is fired up, a confident Broad is awesome to watch

Indeed. Brilliant innings from Broad alongside Prior. Lets hope his bowling matches his batting.

Perfect partnership - settled the nerves, then accelerated - and how! - to set England up for the ideal declaration

Prior once again shows his value and Broad follows up his back-from-the-dead bowling effort with a vital innings

Brilliant day of cricket so far - now up to the bowlers...

India needs 458 runs to win...

Go for the win... England that is. They have plenty of runs to put some serious pressure on the top order now.

India will be in damage control. They don't have the devastating Sehwag, no Gambhir... even if SRT (coming in later), Dravid get settled in; it won't be fast scoring. Raina, Dhoni could go for it but I don't think they will. Yuvraj...can't see him doing it on form.

I hope they are not too tired after that excellent partnership. England are well ahead of where they wanted to be today. India could be in disarray unless their batters show some solidity tonight.

Priors batting

Broad batted good too but his running at times

VVS Laxman.... he's capable of a big score but I just feel the mountain will be too high to climb.

What great test this is shaping up to be. Almost impossible for India to win here, even f they had time its a huge total to chase. The draw is what theyll be chasing, just as well they bowled so slowly.

Their partnership was only 27 overs stellar, they werent out there that long.
One of the best partnerships i have seen when they were under so much pressure.
This is Englands match now i feel.

Early wickets here and India will be in dire trouble.

Getting them out may not be that easy - pitch tends to die here and not much bounce on show in these first few overs... might be some work for Swann later on.

But with half the Indian team in the medical tent you'd fancy England to knock them over in the 8 hours or so they have thanks to that fantastic Prior/Broad stand.

Was it really only 27 overs , Billy? Talk about turning a game around quickly!

Bet we're all glad the selectors are smarter than those of us who would have dumped Broad for Bresnan...

It was an amazing partnership alfie, nearly a run a ball.

Funny thing is I somehow "expected" something like that , once they had settled in - something about Prior just inspires confidence in these situations, and Broad just loves batting at Lord's...

Bet there were some nervous posts on here earlier on? ( I was watching the collapse but wasn't on line , but I don't have to look back to imagine what Trebs was posting

These days England are getting quite good at getting out of holes.

Trebbs was in form alfie lol

This is simply a great test match.

Indian bastmen solid as rocks. They can't get out.

Its England. We could be 20 runs away from victory with all 10 wickets in hand and we'd still have negative posts.

england on top

but i feel we need some wickets

Here comes Broad...

Lets see if he can do it with the ball as well. We could use a wicket soon as they do have a couple of chaps who ...

There it is!!!! Bowled him...

Broad strikes again.

Mukund gone for 12 and India 19-1. Perfect start for England.

Good on Broady