Broad hat-trick stuns India in second Test


NOTTINGHAM,  - England's Stuart Broad became the first bowler to take a Test hat-trick at Trent Bridge as India's progress was checked spectacularly in the second Test on Saturday.
Yet at the end of a dramatic second day, India were still 43 runs ahead as England closed on 24 for one in their second innings.
Fast medium-bowler Broad took five wickets for no runs in 16 balls on his way to Test-best figures of six for 46 in 24.1 overs.
His haul also saw him become the latest bowler to deprive Sachin Tendulkar of his 100th international hundred.
India were indebted to Rahul Dravid's elegantly constructed 117 -- his 34th Test century, equalling the record of fellow India great Sunil Gavaskar and his second in as many matches after his 103 not out at Lord's.

Broad though said his remarkable return would count for little if England failed to press on to victory here.
"It's always nice to get a hat-trick anywhere but to get it at Trent Bridge is special," Broad told Sky Sports.
"We have to bat well tomorrow (Sunday) to set it up for ourselves."
He added: "It has been a big turnaround but we're here to win Test matches, not pick up individual performances."
Dravid, who shared stands of 93 with VVS Laxman (54) and 128 with Yuvraj Singh (62), said: "It was hard work. The wicket did get easier than yesterday (Friday)."
"They have a good quality bowling attack and they tested us."

Looking ahead, Dravid added: "We need to take wickets early on. Tomorrow's morning session is going to be crucial.
"We have to restrict them as much as we can and chase what we have got to chase.
Broad's haul came after he top-scored in England's first innings 221 with 64.
"The last two games have been enjoyable so far but it means nothing unless we win the game," Broad said. "You always get a bit of stick when you are not doing well."
It looked as if India would build a commanding first innings lead until the advent of the new ball in the day's final session with the tourists 258 for four off 80 overs.

Yuvraj Singh, playing his first Test in over a year, had played well for his 62 and helped Dravid add 128 for the fifth wicket.
But he fended at a good length delivery from Broad and was caught behind.
Shortly after, Broad removed India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who wafted outside off stump and was caught at second slip by James Anderson.
Next ball Harbhajan Singh was lbw, South African umpire Marais Erasmus raising his finger even though replays showed the batsman had got an inside-edge onto his pad.
But, because of Indian objections to ball-tracking technology, there are no lbw reviews in this series so Harbhajan had to go.
However, there was no doubt when Broad clean bowled Praveen Kumar to become the first England bowler to take a Test hat-trick since Ryan Sidebottom achieved the feat against New Zealand in Hamilton in 2007/08.
Broad was only the 12th England cricketer in 134 years of Test cricket to take a hat-trick and the first to achieve the feat at Trent Bridge.
It was also the first ever Test hat-trick against India.
Broad ended the innings by removing Ishant Sharma, taken by Ian Bell at short leg, as India were bowled out for 288 -- a first innings lead of 67 runs.

Broad's fourth five-wicket haul in a Test match surpassed his previous best of six for 91 against Australia at Headingley two years ago.
In the midst of this stunning collapse, Dravid was ninth man out when an uppercut off Tim Bresnan flew straight to Alastair Cook at third man.
Dravid, opening the innings after Gautam Gambhir was ruled out because of an elbow injury, batted for over six hours for his century.
He upstaged Tendulkar, who came out to a standing ovation, but fell for 16 to his sixth ball after lunch when he edged a cut off Broad to England captain Andrew Strauss at first slip.
There was still time before stumps for England to lose Alastair Cook before Strauss and Bell, batting at No 3 after Jonathan Trott suffered a shoulder injury, saw the hosts to the close.

Broad revives England as India hit back in second Test


NOTTINGHAM, England  - Stuart Broad again proved a thorn in India's side with the bat as he rescued England from total collapse on the first day of the second Test at Trent Bridge here on Friday.
England slumped to 88 for six after losing the toss in overcast, swing-friendly, conditions.
But Broad, batting at number nine on his Nottinghamshire home ground, top-scored with 64 in a total of 221.
India at stumps were 24 for one in reply, a deficit of 197 runs, as they looked to level this four-match series at 1-1 after losing the first Test at Lord's by 196 runs.
Rahul Dravid, who made an unbeaten century at Lord's, was seven not out and Venkatsai Laxman 13 not out after India lost opener Abhinav Mukund to the first ball of their innings when he pushed at James Anderson and was caught in the gully by Kevin Pietersen.

"India certainly won three quarters of the day but we managed to grab a bit of momentum back towards the end and probably ended up a bit disappointed not to pick up more wickets," Broad said.
"Unfortunately we lost six pretty quick wickets but we are still in with a shout of winning the Test match. It is swinging consistently as it always does at Trent Bridge."
Earlier, India's pace trio of Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, recalled in place of the injured Zaheer Khan, all took three wickets apiece.
"I enjoy bowling here (in England)," said Sreesanth, who took three for 77 in 19 overs.
"We missed Zaheer and I was lucky enough to come in. I enjoyed bowling on this wicket and felt like taking it (the pitch) wherever we go."

Sreesanth, who in India's seven-wicket win over England at Trent Bridge in 2007 was fined for shoulder-barging Michael Vaughan and also bowled a beamer at Pietersen, received some flak from the crowd after trying to claim a 'catch' when the ball had bounced in front of him.
But the 28-year-old said the jeers had motivated him in an innings where Kumar took three for 45 and Sharma three for 66.
"I love it, it's better to leave me alone. Thanks to them for cheering me up," Sreesanth explained.
England captain Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell were the only other batsmen apart from Broad to make more than 30.
But Broad, who together with Nottinghamshire colleague Graeme Swann added 73 for the ninth wicket at better than a run-a-ball, said life had been tough for England's top-order.

"You can't look and blame anyone for throwing their wickets away, I thought India bowled pretty well. The ball has done a little bit today (Friday) and it was a good toss to win."
England came into this match knowing they would replace India at the top of the ICC's Test rankings if they won this 2-0 or better.
But during the last decade India have either won or squared several series after losing the first Test.
And although they were without left-arm quick Zaheer due to the hamstring injury that had forced him off the field early on at Lord's, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to field after winning the toss.

Sharma made the breakthrough when he had Alastair Cook lbw for two before Sreesanth had Jonathan Trott, on four, caught by second slip Laxman.
England, 69 for two at lunch, lost six wickets for 55 runs in the second session with Kumar striking twice in four balls.
Five balls after lunch, Pietersen, on 29, was squared up by Sreesanth and nicked to third slip Suresh Raina.
Swing bowler Kumar rocked England with a Test-best five for 106 at Lord's and, on Friday, he dismissed Strauss when a full-blooded drive was well-caught by Raina.
That same over saw 85 for four become 85 for five when Kumar's outswinger to Eoin Morgan had the left-hander lbw for nought.
Matt Prior had frustrated India with an unbeaten century after England had collapsed to 62 for five in their second innings at Lord's.
But on Friday he made just one before edging Sreesanth to first slip Dravid.
Bell, dropped on 22, got himself out when he flat-footedly cut at Sharma and was caught behind by wicketkeeper Dhoni.
Broad and Swann hit out before their stand ended when Swann gloved a rising delivery from Kumar to Mukund on 28.
Off-spinner Swann was sent for an X-ray on his left hand but scans, according to an England statement, showed "no siginificant damage" and he is expected to be fit to bowl.
Left-handed batsman Broad, who made an unbeaten 74 in the second innings at Lord's, on-drove Kumar for his seventh four to complete a 56-ball fifty before he was last man out when he holed out to off-spinner Harbhajan.


Dravid completes 400 international catches

 Rahul Dravid on Friday became the only player other than a pure wicketkeeper to complete 400 international catches when he caught England’s Matt Prior during the first day's play of the second Test between England and India at Trent Bridge.
While Dravid has also kept wickets occasionally for India, the legendary Indian batsman can't be clubbed with the other eight players in the list who earned their caps for their glovework.
Dravid took his tally to 401 by taking another catch in the England first innings on Friday. While 329 of those catches have come in the field, only 72 were taken by Dravid as a part-time wicketkeeper.
Here’s how the list goes:
Mark Boucher: 917 catches, 456 matches, 916 as a keeper, 1 as a fielder.
Adam Gilchrist: 813 catches, 396 matches, 813 as a keeper, 0 as a fielder.
Ian Healy: 560 catches, 287 matches, 560 as a keeper, 0 as a fielder.
Kumar Sangakkara: 466 catches, 423 matches, 415 as a keeper, 51 as a fielder.
Rodney Marsh: 463 catches, 188 matches, 463 as a keeper, 0 as a fielder.
Jeff Dujon: 450 catches, 250 matches, 448 as a keeper, 2 as a fielder.
Alec Stewart: 422 catches, 303 matches, 375 as a keeper, 47 as a fielder.
Brendon McCullum: 406 catches, 289 matches, 384 as a keeper, 22 as a fielder.
Rahul Dravid: 401 catches, 494 matches, 72 as a keeper, 329 as a fielder.
To go with his record in the field, Dravid – who is known as 'The Wall' of Indian batting for the last 15 years – is also the second highest run-scorer in Test cricket with 12,453 runs. He is only behind Sachin Tendulkar, who has scored 14,738 runs.



Nottingham Test Sachin's 100th outside India

New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar scored yet another century on Friday as he notched up his 100th Test match away from home soil with the Nottingham Test against England.
Tendulkar is already the most-capped player in the longest format of the game having played 179 Tests for India. He played first Test against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989, while his first Test and International Hundred came against England at Old Trafford, Manchester in 1990.
Tendulkar's 100th international hundred, which is expected to be scored in this series if not this Test, is the most anticipated event in international cricket. And Nottingham is a venue close to his heart.
The Master Blaster, who has scored 29 of his 51 Test centuries on away tours, has scored the maximum number of runs against England at Trentbridge - 469 in three Tests at an avergae of 78.17. He scored 177 and 74 in the 1996 Test, 34 and 92 in 2002 and 91 and 1 in 2007.



Zaheer to miss 2nd Test against England: Dhoni


New Delhi: India captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni confirmed that premier fast bowler Zaheer Khan who had injured his hamstring in the Lord's Test, will not participate in the second match of the series against England starting in Nottingham on Friday.
S Sreesanth who did not take part in the historic first Test at the home of cricket is likely to be the replacement for the injured Zaheer.
The left arm pacer bowled just 13.3 overs in England's first innings on day one of the Lord's Test before injuring himself, which led to him being ruled out for the remainder of the match.
Zaheer was sorely missed as Kevin Pietersen went on a score an unbeaten 202 which led to England's crushing 196 run victory in the opening fixture of the four Test series.
Dhoni said Zaheer will have to sit out of the game though he has shown huge improvement in his right hamstring strain and was expected to be fit for the third Test.
Opener Gautam Gambhir who suffered a painful blow on his arm at Lord's might also miss out on the playing eleven.
"As of now Gambhir is doubtful. We will give him some more time. It depends on the amount of pain he can go through and still perform," said Dhoni on the eve of the second Test.
Gambhir was hit on his right elbow by a sweep shot from Matt Prior in the first Test at Lord's on Sunday, and even though he came in to bat, it is believed that his elbow is still stiff and not 100 per cent fit.
Meanwhile, England paceman Chris Tremlett who is yet to recover from a stiff back and a hamstring problem is a doubtful starter for Friday's Test.
Tremlett left Thursday's practice session for treatment and could be replaced by Tim Bresnan.
"He's had a bit of a niggle with his hamstring," captain Andrew Strauss said. "We're confident he should be OK but we'll see how he is in the morning.



Difficult to fill Sehwag's boots: Mukund


Trent Bridge: Young opener Abhinav Mukund on Wednesday said senior pro Virender Sehwag's boots are too big to fill but promised to do his bit for the team's cause in the remainder of the England tour.
Mukund is opening the batting with Gautam Gambhir in the absence of Sehwag, who is recuperating from a shoulder injury.
"If you think I'm going to replace Sehwag well, he is one of the greatest openers for the Indian team and those are big boots to fill. If I try to bat like him, it's not possible. I will play the way I know how to play and if it comes off, it's going to help the team," said the young Chennai opener who made his Test debut in the preceding series in the Caribbean.
Mukund made two decent starts in the first Test at Lord's (49 and 12) but frittered away on both occasions and the left-hander is still rueing the missed opportunities.
"I was very disappointed that I couldn't carry on. I was batting well but I can take the confidence into the next Test.
"It's every kid's dream to play at home of cricket and I was excited as well but unfortunately, I couldn't carry on."
In his nascent career, Mukund is face-to-face with perhaps world's most withering fast bowling attack but he is not the kind of batsman to lose sleep over it.
"It's only my second series so I can't tell (if it is the best bowling attack). But having come from domestic cricket and face Fidel Edwards bowling at 90 m.p.h, you are prepared to face it. Whatever happens, happens."
Mukund was grateful for the cricketing education he is having every day of his stint with the Indian team.
"Honestly, spending so much time with the Indian team, you learn every single day. When somebody like Sachin pats you on the back, it can do anyone's confidence a world of good. I am too looking to improve my performance."
The next Test is starting here from Friday and England, up 1-0 in the series, would like to consolidate further in conditions which are ideally suited for seam and swing bowling.
"I haven't seen the wicket. But being world's number one team, we have faced challenges on way to here. A lot of players are experienced enough and played in these conditions. We would give a good fight."
Mukund was also confident that Team India has reserves to take the absence of Zaheer Khan, in case it happens here, in stride.
"Zaheer is our strike bowler. However, Ishant bowled well in the Caribbean, Praveen had a five-wicket haul (at Lord's) and Sreesanth is waiting in the wings. It's not as if we have a depleted attack. But losing a fast bowler in a game, is a completely different scenario.




Anderson wary of India backlash



Nottingham,: England seamer James Anderson expects India to be a stronger side when the second Test starts at Trent Bridge on Friday after bowling the hosts to victory in the series opener.
Anderson, 28, took five for 65 in front of a sell-out last day crowd at Lord's on Monday as India were dismissed for 261 to give England a convincing 196-run win and a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
"When any team gets beaten they generally come back stronger and have more fire in their belly," Anderson said on Wednesday.
"All we can do is concentrate on our game, prepare well the next couple of days and concentrate on that first hour on Friday," added the Lancashire paceman, whose second innings haul at Lord's included India's star batting trio of Rahul Dravid, Venkatsai Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar.
Victory at Lord's left England on course to replace India at the top of the ICC's Test Championship table, something they will achieve if they win this series by a margin of two matches or better.
However, Anderson warned past efforts were no guarantee of future successes. "It was a great performance, a great team effort. We did really well to get the win. But that's gone now," said Anderson. "We've got to hit the re-set button and focus on Friday now. Each game is different. We can't rely on what's gone on in the past," explained the Ashes-winner.
"It's a different game completely and we've got to just prepare well the next couple of days and hopefully hit the ground running on Friday.
"We've got to try to improve if we can. That's something we've prided ourselves on in the last couple of years - not resting on our laurels but trying to improve and be as good as we possibly can be."
As for leapfrogging India at the top of the Test rankings, Anderson said: "It's our end goal, but we've got to concentrate on each game and play as well as we can in each game and hope that will be the end product."

Trott and Anderson into second place

James Anderson has leapfrogged team-mate Graeme Swann to take the No. 2 spot in the bowling rankings, while Jonathan Trott has overtaken Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara to be rated the second best Test batsman in the world.
Anderson has achieved his career-best mark - this is the first time he has touched 800 points - following his second-innings figures of 5 for 65 on the final day at Lord's, when he claimed the key wickets of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina. It has put him ahead of Swann who, despite playing an important role in both innings, only claimed two wickets.
Trott scored a vital 70 in England's first innings at Lord's, where he batted in the toughest conditions on the first day to help set the home side a platform. Kevin Pietersen followed that with an unbeaten 202, which has been enough to propel him back into the top 20.
"That first innings total was a magnificent performance and Kevin was mainly responsible for that," Andrew Strauss, the England captain, said. "That was one of the great innings I've seen since being involved [with cricket], in very difficult circumstances. He had to be smart in the way he played their seamers, he had to graft and then when we had the opportunity to attack, he attacked. Jonathan Trott also showed great temperament and technique to get to 70."
Matt Prior, who hit 71 and an unbeaten 103 has also achieved a new career-best rating, rising 10 places to 21st. Chris Tremlett's four wickets in the match have helped him to ninth place in the bowlers rankings, while Stuart Broad climbs four places and has also moved to fifth in the all-rounders' table.
India still have two bowlers in the top ten with Zaheer Khan, who is expected to miss the Trent Bridge Test due to injury, and Ishant Sharma lying in fifth and seventh place respectively. In the batting top ten, apart from Tendulkar, India have VVS Laxman in seventh while Virender Sehwag, who missed the Lord's Test through injury, has dropped to 10th.


Anderson paves way for perfect England victory


LONDON, July 25  - England produced a disciplined and determined bowling display at Lord's on Monday to dismiss the world's most talented batting lineup for the second time and win their 100th test against India by 196 runs.
James Anderson was the home side's hero on the final day of the first test with five for 65, including the wickets of Rahul Dravid (36), VVS Laxman (56) and Sachin Tendulkar (12).
The trio have accumulated more than 35,000 test runs between them for the world's top-ranked side, with Tendulkar holding the world record of 14,738.
Captain Andrew Strauss preferred to praise the overall contribution of Anderson, Chris Tremlett, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann rather than dwell on individuals.

"I think over the two innings it was as close to the perfect bowling performance as we have had in the last two years," Strauss said. "That's saying a lot because we have bowled exceptionally well quite consistently."
Spectators queued throughout the early hours of the morning for the last day of the 2,000th test with 20,000 tickets available for the last rites of a consistently engrossing match.
More than 25,000 people crammed into the game's world headquarters in addition to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) members with support equally divided for England and India.
"I think it was a great atmosphere," Strauss said. "You expect Indians to have a lot of support over here and it was fantastic. I think there was a lot of support for us as well.
"That added to the mix, we all appreciate playing test matches in front of full houses. It makes you feel that you are doing something important, it makes you feel that every wicket you take, every run you score is appreciated by someone.

"The more crowds we have over the the course of the summer the better not just for us but for the future of test cricket."
As it had been in the World Cup final in Mumbai on April 2, the stage was set for the greatest batsman of modern times to complete 100 international centuries.
Once again, though, Tendulkar failed to deliver, extending instead his mystifyingly mediocre record at Lord's. Tendulkar made 18 in Mumbai, albeit in a winning cause, and 34 in the first innings at Lord's on Saturday.
Still feeling the effects of a virus which kept him off the field for most of Sunday, he was all but strokeless on Monday, labouring for 85 minutes for 12 runs.
He survived an appeal for lbw on 11 when the ball looked to have hit straight in front of the stumps and was dropped on 12 by Strauss at first slip, the second lapse by the England skipper who also dropped Dravid in India's first innings.
"He (Tendulkar) felt weak after the first innings," said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "He's much better now but I wouldn't say he's 100 percent."

By time Tendulkar had arrived at the crease India's were already rocking after Dravid was out lbw to Anderson having added just one to his overnight total.
Laxman batted calmly to reach his 53rd test half-century with eight boundaries but he gifted his wicket to Anderson, playing a loose shot which was caught by Ian Bell at mid-wicket.
His dismissal brought Tendulkar to the crease with a standing ovation from a packed Lord's crowd.
Gautam Gambhir was out lbw to Graeme Swann and at lunch India were a precarious 142 for four and when Tendulkar failed to fire after the interval the writing was on the wall for India despite a fighting 78 from Suresh Raina.
ZAHEER MISSED
With three tests remaining in the series followed by five one-day matches and a tour of Australia to follow this year, Tendulkar will assuredly reach a landmark unlikely to be equalled. But at the age of 38, it will not now come at Lord's where his test average is 21.66 compared to an overall 56.68.
Strauss said before the match that he thought England were ready to assume the mantle of world test champions. They will overtake India in the rankings if they win the series by at least a two-match margin.

"To be the number one side in the world you have to grab opportunities," he said on Monday. "I think we did that very well in this game. But it's the first match in a four-match series so we can't get carried away.
"I think we just demonstrated that when we play well we're a match for anyone. We have got to make sure we play well again."
Dhoni, who hit an unbeaten 91 in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka and who has yet to lose a test series as captain, said the loss of his leading strike bowler Zaheer Khan with a hamstring injury on the opening day had been crucial.
"It became quite tough for us to manage the bowlers after losing Zaheer," he said. "It was very difficult for us to manoeuvre with three bowlers. We didn't have too many options."
Dhoni said uneven bounce on Monday had troubled his batsmen while he had also been forced to change his batting order. Dravid opened the batting in place of Gambhir, who had suffered a painful blow on his elbow while fielding, and Tendulkar came in at number five instead of four.
"It was tough for the batsmen and most of them were batting in different slots. I think that also added pressure," he said.
The teams have only three days off before the second test begins at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Friday. The third is scheduled for Edgbaston and the series concludes at the Oval.

Australia test squad for Sri Lanka tour


SYDNEY, July 26  - Australia announced the following squad on Tuesday for three tests against Sri Lanka in September.
Squad - Michael Clarke (captain), Shane Watson, Michael Beer, Trent Copeland, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Phillip Hughes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, James Pattinson, Ricky Ponting, Peter Siddle.

Dravid, Laxman keep England at bay in Test


LONDON  - Rahul Dravid and Venkatsai Laxman held firm as India eyed a record-breaking chase in the first Test after Matt Prior's unbeaten century had swung the match back England's way at Lord's on Sunday.
India, at the close of the fourth day, were 80 for one in their second innings. They need a further 378 in a minimum of 98 overs on Monday's final day to reach their victory target of 458 -- a run-rate of 3.85 an over.
This is the 2,000th Test of all-time and no side has ever scored more in the fourth innings to win a match than the West Indies' 418 for seven against Australia in Antigua in 2002/03.
Dravid, who made 103 not out in India's first innings, was unbeaten on 34 having opened in place of Gautam Gambhir who was injured fielding at short leg earlier in the day, at stumps.
Laxman was 32 not out, with the experienced duo's stand so far worth 61.

Prior, who came in with England having collapsed to 62 for five, said: "I think we're probably just ahead."
And the wicketkeeper backed England off-spinner Graeme Swann to make a telling contribution on the last day.
"It's a huge amount of runs to get and when the ball gets older, Swanny will play a big role."
Prior, playing his natural game, made 103 not out off 120 balls, including a six and five fours.
It was Prior's sixth century in 44 Tests and second in as many at Lord's following his 126 against Sri Lanka last month.

Stuart Broad, who'd led England's attack with four for 37 in India's first innings, gave Prior excellent support in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 162 at nearly a run-a-ball as India's depleted attack toiled on a sunny day.
Broad, who bats left-handed but bowls right, demonstrated his all-round ability with a fluent 74 not out off 90 balls including nine fours.
Prior pulled Suresh Raina for six to go into the 90s before a four off the part-time spinner took him to his third Test century at Lord's -- he also made 126 not out at the ground on debut against the West Indies in 2007.
As soon as Prior got to his century, England captain Andrew Strauss declared on 269 for six and with 30 overs left in the day's play.

Broad's joy continued when he struck third ball to bowl Abhinav Mukund for 12, the left-hander playing on to him for the second time in the match.
India were again down to just three frontline bowlers as left-arm quick Zaheer Khan remained sidelined with a hamstring strain.
Fellow seamer Ishant Sharma still rocked England with three wickets for one run in 16 balls before lunch on his way to four for 59 in 22 overs.
Kevin Pietersen had made a superb 202 not out in England's first innings 474 for eight declared.
But on Sunday he was out for one when he feathered a steepling Sharma delivery to India captain and wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Five balls later Ian Bell fell in similar fashion for nought.

It was surprising Sharma didn't take up the attack immediately after lunch but he said he still felt tired after bowling 11 overs on the reel.
India are currently top of the ICC's Test Championship table, although they will be replaced at the summit by England if the hosts win this four-match series by two clear Tests.
But Sharma, asked if India could win this match, insisted: "Yes, that's the good thing about the Indian dressing room, we are always confident."