Nottingham, July 29 (IANS) India took two wickets before Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen survived probing spells to take England to 69/2 at lunch on the opening day of the second cricket Test at Trent Bridge here Friday.
Ishant Sharma trapped Alastair Cook lbw while S. Sreesanth, who replaced the injured Zaheer Khan, had Jonathan Trott caught at second slip to reduce England to 23/2.
Strauss and Pietersen then combined for a 46-run stand to pull England out of the woods.
The Indian pacers bowled with great control in the first hour of play after captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed faith in his bowlers to use the green pitch and overcast conditions. Ishant, Praveen Kumar and Sreesanth swung the ball from the right length to trouble the England openers.
Praveen and Ishant were brilliant in their opening spells and England could score only 18 runs in the first 10 overs, with Cook back in the hut. The left-hander was clearly at unease. He survived a close lbw appeal before Ishant rapped him on his front pad and got a decision in his favour.
The first boundary came in the ninth over when Strauss clipped Praveen off his pads for a boundary through mid-wicket.
Sreesanth struck in his very first over luring Trott for a big drive and forcing an edge to V.V.S Laxman at second slip.
Strauss and Pietersen played cautiously but made the most when the bowlers strayed in their line.
