Nottingham, Aug 1 (IANS) England fast bowler Tim Bresnan wrecked India first with the bat and then with the ball to leave them struggling at 68/6 in the second innings, chasing a world record 478-run target in the fourth innings, at tea on the fourth day of the second cricket Test here Monday.
England bullied India by scoring freely as they added 103 runs in 19.2 overs, to their overnight score of 441 for six. Tim Bresnan (90) and Matt Prior (73) blunted the Indian attack adding 119 runs for the seventh wicket before Broad came up with a cameo of 32-ball 44.
Bresnan then returned with figures of 4/17 after a fiery spell at tea break as India lost six wickets for just 60 runs in the post-lunch session. The only batsmen to get double figures were Sachin Tendulkar (35) and Harbahajan Singh (10), who were at the crease fighting a lost battle at the Trent Bridge.
India, who suffered a 196-run loss in the first Test in Lord’s, lost first-innings century-maker Rahul Dravid (6) who snicked Stuart Broad to be caught behind, just at the stroke of lunch break. And then on, wickets tumbled at regular intervals.
V.V.S. Laxman (4) saw his off-stump flying off the ground by an excellent delivery from James Anderson and Abhinav Mukund (3), who nearly got a king pair, was done in by a bouncer from Bresnan that flew to Andrew Strauss at first slip. Ironically it was Bresnan, who had failed to fasten on to a sharp slip-catch off James Anderson that saw the young opener avoiding a king pair.
Bresnan used his short ball cleverly to dismiss both Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. Raina perished in his attempt to pull but edged to substitute Scott Elstone at fine-leg while Yuvraj tried his best with one hand to fend off a short-pitched stuff but gloved to Alastair Cook, who took a diving catch backwards at silly point. Mahendra Singh Dhoni padded Bresnan’s full-length ball cutting back in to hit middle and was given LBW.
Earlier, Bresnan and Prior, the two overnight batsmen, made their intentions clear right from the first over. Bresnan got to his fifty in an awkward fashion after the third delivery of the day from Sreesanth kicked up from just short of a length, hit the handle of Bresnan’s bat, and flew over gully to third man for four. But Bresnan showed his class by driving Sreesanth’s fifth delivery between the bowler and the mid-on.
Prior, who cracked a century at Lord’s, hit Praveen Kumar (4/124) for two consecutive fours in the next over but the street-smart pacer picked up the England wicketkeeper with an excellent delivery that swung away sharply to Dhoni, who almost fluffed the catch.
But Bresnan looked in fluent touch. He cut, drove and pulled efficiently to frustrate the Indian bowlers in his 82-run stand with Broad. Kumar picked up Bresnan and Broad off consecutive deliveries, but James Anderson denied him a hat-trick.
