Cricket: India beat England by 7 wickets

Nottingham (England) July 31: India beat England by seven wickets to win the second Test on the fifth and final day at Trent Bridge on Tuesday 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 to seal what was only their fifth win in 47 Tests in England, finishing on 73 for three.

Earlier, Zaheer Khan's 5 for 75 helped India set up a win over England in the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge. With 63 more runs required to win for the visitors on day 5, India have all but taken a 1-0 series lead in the 3 Test series. England were given a fighting chance by a century from captain Michael Vaughan, but India have clearly been the better team right through the four days of cricket in Nottingham.

Coming out on Day 4, England knew they needed to bat all day to ensure they had a fighting chance in the 2nd Test. The hosts, though made the exact start they didn't want. In the third over of the day, Zaheer Khan trapped Alistair Cook in front of the stumps with some smart bowling. Khan brought one back after Cook had chased a wide one on the previous delivery and had his first scalp of the innings. With England at 49/1, a few worries might have started to creep in to the English dressing room. While Sreesanth was all over the place, Zaheer Khan bowled one of the best spells any bowler has bowled all this English summer.

After picking the solitary wicket in the morning, Indian skipper Rahul Dravid chopped and changed his bowling line up, bringing in Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble but couldn't disturb Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss. The left handed opener got to his 11th Test fifty before lunch while Michael Vaughan reached a landmark of his own, becoming the 17th Englishman to score 5000 Test runs. England went in to lunch at 129 for 1. India had lost the battle of the opening session of Day 4.

The first blow post lunch though was struck by India when Zaheer Khan picked up Strauss. The left hander swatted the air as the ball swung away from him. MS Dhoni picked up a low catch, Strauss was gone for 55 and India were right back in. Immediately, Zaheer Khan started to look as dangerous as he did during his opening spell in the morning.

Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen though seemed to be negotiating the Indian attack without too much of a bother. Pietersen was looking especially dangerous at the other end during a fluent knock of 19. Then a Sreesanth beamer almost mowed him down and a few balls later he decided to leave a ball from RP Singh that swung back viciously. Pietersen was on the backfoot and was wrapped square on the pads. Simon Taufel had little hesitation in giving him out LBW. England had lost their best batsman and they were still 108 runs behind. But Vaughan was far from giving up and seemed to batting comfortably, alongside Paul Collingwood. England went to tea at 221 for 3 and perhaps embers of hopes were starting to kindle that England might pull themselves out of the hole.

The confident batting continued for about 12 overs after tea as India dished out some tepid fair. Vaughan reached his second hundred since making a comeback at Leeds versus the Windies, and the 17th of his career. Vaughan and Collingwood carved out a partnership of 112 as the duo wiped out India's lead. India took the new ball in the 80th over and three overs later, things began to change drastically. Facing Zaheer Khan, Vaughan tried to flick the ball down the leg side. Instead the ball came off his pads and slowly rolled on to hit the stumps. As Zaheer celebrated wildly, India could smell victory. The English captain walked off to a standing ovation for his effort of 124, but with England leading only by 4 runs he knew the hundred was in vain.

Ian Bell came in next, stayed on for just two balls as Zaheer trapped him in front of the stumps as Bell's poor run continues. The attack of the left handers continued as RP Singh bowled an inswinging beauty to uproot Matt Prior's middle stump. With their last recognized pair no longer at the wicket and the score at 304 for 6, England were staring straight down the barrell. Paul Collingwood flirted with a wide one from Zaheer and was caught in the slips after making a gritty 63. The end was clearly in sight for England. Zaheer Khan finally had his 5 wicket haul and he was absolutely delighted.

Kumble then wiped off the tail finishing with match figures of 6/136 and India were set a target of 73. Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer made sure India didn't lose any wickets overnight finishing the day at 10 for no loss needing 63 to complete a famous victory.

Reuters
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