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London, July 23: The weather gods came to India's rescue in the
nick of time to save them from a certain defeat against England
who needed just one wicket to wrap up the first cricket Test at
Lord's here today. Chasing a stiff target of 380, the Indians
were all but out at 282 for 9 at tea on the fifth and final day
when the divine intervention prevented the home team from taking
a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series. It turned out to be a cruel
blow of fate for England who dominated the Test right from the
opening day despite a depleted bowling attack and needed only a
few more minutes to seal victory.
India owed their great escape to a 86-run
partnership for the sixth wicket between VVS Laxman (39) and
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (76 n.o.). Dhoni continued to wage a lonely
battle after the loss of Laxman and last man Sreesanth (4 not
out) blocked what turned out to be crucial - deliveries before
the umpires offered them the light. Play was finally abandoned
for the day half-an-hour before the scheduled cut-off time of 7
p.m. (11.30 p.m. IST) as light deteriorated and it began to
drizzle incessantly.
Dhoni batted for 202 minutes, faced 159 balls
and hit 10 fours. Chris Tremlett (3-52), Ryan Sidebottom (2-42),
James Anderson (2-83) and Monty Panesar (2-63) shared the spoils
for England. The teams now move over to Nottingham where they
play the second Test from July 27 at Trent Bridge. (Agencies)
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