India 17/0, trail England by 457
London: Kevin Pietersen hit a magnificent double century (202 not out) as England continued their dominance on the second day of the Lord's Test on Friday.
England declared their first innings at 474/8, as soon as Pietersen completed his landmark. Kevin Pieterson celebrates after hitting a double century during the second day at Lord's. Praveen Kumar got a five-for (5/106) after bowling 40.3 overs in England's first innings.
India, in reply, put up 17 runs without losing any wicket in seven overs, with openers Gautam Gambhir (7) and Abhinav Mukund (8) still at the wicket.
In his 326-ball marathon knock, Pietersen hit 21 exquisite boundaries and one maximum and shared two century stands, first with Ian Bell (45) and later with Matt Prior (71).
The tall English batsman got to his third double ton of his career by hitting part-timer Suresh Raina to the cover boundary.
Earlier, England started the day from 127/2, with Trott and Pietersen still on the wicket. The two batsmen took the their innings forward without taking any undue risk.
The visitors got a massive blow ahead of the second day when their ace pacer Zaheer Khan was ruled out of the entire day's play due to a hamstring injury he suffered on Thursday.
In the first session of play, India toiled hard for an hour before Praveen struck for them with the wicket of well-set Trott (70), who was trapped leg before by the swing bowler.
But Pietersen kept the scoreboard ticking and completed his half-century by nudging a single.
Bell, on the other hand, showed his positive intent from the moment he came out in the middle and played some lofted shots off Harbhajan Singh. Pietersen and Bell brought on England's 200 in the 74th over of their innings.
India could only manage one wicket in the opening session as England reached 217/3 at Lunch.
Pietersen and Bell were the not out batsmen when players left for first break of the day.
Indian skipper MS Dhoni, like many other occasions in the past, surprised one and all when he turned up for the session after lunch without donning the wicketkeeping gloves. It could well be a knee-jerk reaction after Zaheer's injury.
But the decision seemed to have paid instantly when Dhoni's leg-cutter almost induced an outside edge from Pietersen's bat. On-field umpire Billy Bowden raised his finger, but the batsmen thought otherwise and asked for a decision review.
Despite innumerable replays when it was unclear that whether the ball had actually hit the bat before going into the hands of makeshift keeper Rahul Dravid, umpire overturned his decision to give the batsman not out.
But Praveen made the new ball count as he struck twice in quick succession to leave England at 270/5.
Kumar, first accounted for Bell, and later got the wicket of Eoin Morgan.
The 24-year-old was able to generate the banana curve he is so famous for and induced an outside edge from Bell's bat. Dhoni dived to his right to take a good low catch. Morgan didn't last long as he missed an inswinging Praveen's delivery that took an inside edge before going into wicketkeeper's hands.
England's star batsman Pietersen returned to form with a solid century. The right-hander took 216 balls to reach to his 18th Test ton, with 11 fours. He also shared an 110-run stand for the fourth wicket with Bell.
Pietersen's remained not out on 115 as England went for tea with 305/5 on the board. Prior was accompanying Pietersen in the middle with 21 runs.
Pietersen continued to add to his tally of runs, while Matt Prior played a dominant role in a 120-run stand for the sixth wicket in the post tea session.
The two batsmen kept the Indians on their toes while scoring runs at a brisk pace throughout their magnificent stand. It also took the initiative from the visitors who at one stage left the home side at 270/5, when Praveen struck with two quick wickets.
Pietersen kept England on top by raising his 150 and team's 400 in the 123rd over of their innings.
Just like earlier in the day, Praveen gave India another moment to rejoice when he got the wickets of dangerous looking Prior and Stuart Broad (0) in successive deliveries.
Graeme Swann departed after contributing with 24 runs.
The first day's play of the much-anticipated 2000th match in the history of Test cricket was called off due to persistent rain on Thursday.
Scoreboard at stumps on the second day of the first cricket Test between India and England at Lord's here Friday.
England first innings:
Andrew Strauss c Sharma b Khan 22
Alastair Cook lbw b Khan 12
Jonathan Trott lbw b Kumar 70
Kevin Pietersen not out 202
Ian Bell c Dhoni b Kumar 45
Eoin Morgan c Dhoni b Kumar 0
Matt Prior c Dhoni b Kumar 71
Stuart Broad lbw b Kumar 0
Graeme Swann b Raina 24
Chris Tremlett not out 4
Extras (b 14, lb 8, w 1, nb 1) 24
Total (declared for eight wickets in 131.4 overs) 474
Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Cook, 10.6 overs), 2-62 (Strauss, 24.4), 3-160 (Trott, 61.2), 4-270 (Bell, 92.1), 5-270 (Morgan, 92.4), 6-390 (Prior, 120.3), 7-390 (Broad, 120.4), 8-451 (Swann, 129.4)
Bowling
Zaheer Khan 13.3-8-18-2
Praveen Kumar 40.3-10-106-5
Ishant Sharma 32-5-128-0
Harbhajan Singh 35-3-152-0
Mahendra Singh Dhoni 8-1-23-0
Suresh Raina 2.4-1-25-1
India: first innings
Abhinav Mukund not out 8
Gautam Gambhir not out 7
Extras (nb 2) 2
Total (0 wickets in 6 overs) 17
Bowling:
James Anderson 3-1-9-0
Chris Tremlett 3-0-8-0
Toss: India, who chose to field
Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and Billy Bowden (New Zealand)
TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (South Africa)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka)
News Posted: 23 July, 2011
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