Broad bags four as England take control

LONDON, AP:A century from Rahul Dravid helped India make 286 all out and avoid the follow-on against England on day three of the first Test at Lord's yesterday.

England's openers, Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook survived five overs to reach 5-0 at stumps, a lead of 193.

Dravid was India's top scorer with an unbeaten 103 from 220 balls with 15 fours, after being put down on 42 by Graeme Swann.

"At that stage I was just thinking about getting the 274,'' Dravid said, referring to the figure India needed to avoid following on. "I spoke to Praveen (Kumar) and told him to take every run we could get. I think the 17 runs that he got were crucial. That 274 was quite a good thing to have because I concentrated on that and not on my score.''

A revitalised Stuart Broad took 4-37 and Chris Tremlett claimed 3-80 but dropped catches helped ensure England would bat again.

"I'm very pleased to have picked up four wickets, but I'm more pleased that as a team we took 10 Indian wickets,'' Broad said. "I think we're in a very strong position. I think the wicket's still playing pretty well and we're going to see some swing.''

India began day three on 17-0, in reply to England's 474-8 declared.

Broad, under pressure to keep his place in the side, bowled India openers Abhinav Mukund for 49 and Gautam Gambhir for 15 during an engrossing morning session.

India had made steady if not comfortable progress in the first hour, with Mukund and Gambhir taking 99 balls to put on 50 for the first wicket. It took the introduction of Broad, from the Pavilion end, to unsettle the batsmen.

Broad's first delivery was a no ball, and he initially looked wayward and frustrated. He also overlooked the chance to appeal for an lbw when he rapped Mukund on the toe with a yorker that replays showed would have hit the stumps.

superb ball

But after an hour, he produced a superb ball that swung between Gambhir's bat and pad to flatten his middle stump.

Broad's line remained inconsistent but he claimed his second wicket when Mukund tried to fetch a wide delivery and played on.

That ushered Tendulkar to the crease, to warm applause from every part of the ground.

Looking to score his 100th international century, Tendulkar got off the mark with a cover drive for two. He was then gifted four runs when Kevin Pietersen attempted to run him out. With nobody backing up, Pietersen's throw missed the stumps and flew to the boundary, leaving Broad furious.

Dravid reminded the crowd of his pedigree with an elegant prod through the covers to bring up India's 100, but both batsmen needed all their experience to cope with Broad and Tremlett in the final overs before lunch.

SCOREBOARD

England 1st Innings 474-8 dec.

India 1st Innings

(Overnight 17-0)

A. Mukund b Broad 49G. Gambhir b Broad 15R. Dravid not out 103S. Tendulkar c Swann b Broad34V.V.S. Laxman c Trott b Tremlett10S. Raina lbw Swann 0M.S. Dhoni c Swann b Tremlett 28H. Singh c Prior b Tremlett 0P. Kumar c Strauss b Broad 17Z. Khan b Anderson 0I. Sharma c Prior b Anderson 0Extras: (5b, 12lb, 1w, 12nb) 30Total: 286Overs: 95.5.

Fall of wickets: 1-63, 2-77, 3-158, 4-182, 5-183, 6-240, 7-241, 8-276, 9-284, 10-286.

Bowling: James Anderson 23.5-6-87-2, Chris Tremlett 24-5-80-3 (10nb), Stuart Broad 22-8-37-4 (2nb, 1w), Jonathan Trott 6-1-12-0, Graeme Swann 19-3-50-1, Kevin Pietersen 1-0-3-0.

England 2nd Innings

A. Strauss not out 3A.r Cook not out 0Extras: (2w) 2Total: (for 0 wickets) 5Overs: 5

Bowling: Praveen Kumar 3-0-4-0 (1w), Ishant Sharma 2-1-1-0 (1w).

Toss: won by India.

Umpires: Billy Bowden, New Zealand, and Asad Rauf, Pakistan.