India complete rare win in England

NOTTINGHAM – India beat England by seven wickets to win the second Test on the fifth and final day at Trent Bridge yesterday and so go 1-0 up in the three-match series.

Resuming on 10 without loss, India needed just a further 63 to achieve their victory target of 73 and England required an astonishing fightback. As it was, India took just 95 minutes Monday to seal what was only their fifth win in 47 Tests in England, finishing on 73 for three.India captain Rahul Dravid, reflecting on his side’s triumph, said: “We got together after Lords and knew we needed a better performance.You have to get the basics right and that’s what we did.It was a great effort.”Dravid was 11 not out and Sourav Ganguly two not out on a sunlit day seemingly ideal for batting with the winning runs coming when wicket-keeper Matt Prior conceded four byes.This victory was set up by left-arm quick Zaheer Khan who led the India attack with a superb display of swing bowling on his way to Test-best match figures of nine for 134.Dravid reflected: “He was brilliant, you need players who can take the game by the scruff of the neck and that’s what he did yesterday afternoon.He really changed the game for us.”Chris Tremlett took all the wickets to fall on Monday in a spell of three wickets for three runs in 27 balls.Wasim Jaffer was caught off a top-edged hook by the fast bowler’s Hampshire team-mate Kevin Pietersen in the gully for 22.Jaffer’s fellow opener Dinesh Karthik fell for the same score when he was caught behind by Prior.Sachin Tendulkar went for just one, well caught at backward short leg by Alastair Cook after he fended at a rising ball.It had been a good toss for Dravid to win, his bowlers exploiting the helpful conditions to dismiss England for 198.In reply India piled up 481, a lead of 283, with Tendulkar making 91 as he became only the third batsman in history to score 11 000 Test runs.England captain Michael Vaughan made the only individual century of the match, 124 when his side batted again before becoming one of Khan’s five second innings wickets.Paying tribute to the visitors Vaughan said: “Full credit to India, they deserved to win the test match throughout the five days.”It seemed to have been a good toss to win but all credit to the Indian attack.We were probably 60 to 70 runs light in the second innings butr Inida played some good cricket.”This Test, which followed an opener at Lord’s where India clung on for a draw with one wicket standing was marred by several unpleasant incidents.India fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was fined 50 percent of his match fee for shoulder barging Vaughan on Monday.Previously, Khan had been angered by the extraordinary sight of jelly beans, left by England fielders, littering the crease when he batted on Sunday.Vaughan, asked if the line of accepted sporting behaviour had been crossed, replied: “What’s been great about these two tests is they’ve been tough but I don’t think the line’s been crossed yet.You’ve got two sides wanting to win for their country.”Dravid added: “We’ve had two tough Test matches with both teams trying to win, it got quite tough out there.”The third and final Test starts at The Oval on August 9 with England needing a win to extend their record of 11 unbeaten series at home since losing the 2001 Ashes.Looking ahead to the Oval Dravid said: “England are not going to lie down, we’ll be expecting a tough encounter.”His England counterpart commented: “It’s going to test our characters being 1-0 down but hopefully we can produce a performance at the Oval to get the series back level.”Nampa-AFPAs it was, India took just 95 minutes Monday to seal what was only their fifth win in 47 Tests in England, finishing on 73 for three.India captain Rahul Dravid, reflecting on his side’s triumph, said: “We got together after Lords and knew we needed a better performance.You have to get the basics right and that’s what we did.It was a great effort.”Dravid was 11 not out and Sourav Ganguly two not out on a sunlit day seemingly ideal for batting with the winning runs coming when wicket-keeper Matt Prior conceded four byes.This victory was set up by left-arm quick Zaheer Khan who led the India attack with a superb display of swing bowling on his way to Test-best match figures of nine for 134.Dravid reflected: “He was brilliant, you need players who can take the game by the scruff of the neck and that’s what he did yesterday afternoon.He really changed the game for us.”Chris Tremlett took all the wickets to fall on Monday in a spell of three wickets for three runs in 27 balls.Wasim Jaffer was caught off a top-edged hook by the fast bowler’s Hampshire team-mate Kevin Pietersen in the gully for 22.Jaffer’s fellow opener Dinesh Karthik fell for the same score when he was caught behind by Prior.Sachin Tendulkar went for just one, well caught at backward short leg by Alastair Cook after he fended at a rising ball.It had been a good toss for Dravid to win, his bowlers exploiting the helpful conditions to dismiss England for 198.In reply India piled up 481, a lead of 283, with Tendulkar making 91 as he became only the third batsman in history to score 11 000 Test runs.England captain Michael Vaughan made the only individual century of the match, 124 when his side batted again before becoming one of Khan’s five second innings wickets.Paying tribute to the visitors Vaughan said: “Full credit to India, they deserved to win the test match throughout the five days.”It seemed to have been a good toss to win but all credit to the Indian attack.We were probably 60 to 70 runs light in the second innings butr Inida played some good cricket.”This Test, which followed an opener at Lord’s where India clung on for a draw with one wicket standing was marred by several unpleasant incidents.India fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was fined 50 percent of his match fee for shoulder barging Vaughan on Monday.Previously, Khan had been angered by the extraordinary sight of jelly beans, left by England fielders, littering the crease when he batted on Sunday.Vaughan, asked if the line of accepted sporting behaviour had been crossed, replied: “What’s been great about these two tests is they’ve been tough but I don’t think the line’s been crossed yet.You’ve got two sides wanting to win for their country.”Dravid added: “We’ve had two tough Test matches with both teams trying to win, it got quite tough out there.”The third and final Test starts at The Oval on August 9 with England needing a win to extend their record of 11 unbeaten series at home since losing the 2001 Ashes.Looking ahead to the Oval Dravid said: “England are not going to lie down, we’ll be expecting a tough encounter.”His England counterpart commented: “It’s going to test our characters being 1-0 down but hopefully we can produce a performance at the Oval to get the series back level.”Nampa-AFP