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London, July 22: India braved early setbacks
to mount a positive chase after England set them a daunting
target of 380 to win the first cricket Test that was poised for
a close finish at Lord's here today.
Dinesh Kaarthick anchored in with a gutsy
half-century and Sourav Ganguly nursed him with a measured knock
to take India to 137 for 3 at stumps on the fourth and
penultimate day.
Kaarthick, who had to endure a bit of verbal
banter from the hosts in the extended final session, made up for
the cheap dismissals of Wasim Jaffer (8), Rahul Dravid (9) and
Sachin Tendulkar (16) with an unbeaten 56. Ganguly performed the
role of senior batsman to perfection, guiding his younger
partner through the tough last three hours of the day and
remained 36 not out.
The unbroken partnership between the two for
the fourth wicket was already worth 53 runs, from only 98 balls,
and the run rate of 3.34 showed the positive intent of the
Indians. England owed their strong position to Kevin Pietersen
who struck a belligerent 134 to help his team post 282 in their
second innings.
Rudra Pratap Singh made his Lord's debut
memorable with his maiden five-wicket haul, 5-59, while Zaheer
Khan backed him with figures of 4-79. The changing weather will
have a say on the outcome. While the sky stayed clear throughout
the day and helped the batsmen, overcast conditions like during
the previous three days would give hope for the bowlers.
(Agencies)
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