England Undermined Late on

Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood were late casualties on the opening day of the first Test against India at Lord's as England finished 255-4.

As the evening gloom descended, Anil Kumble got Collingwood lbw and Vaughan fell chasing a wide delivery from left-armer Rudra Pratap Singh.

Kumble earlier had Andrew Strauss caught at slip with the Middlesex left-hander on 99, just one stroke away from his eleventh three-figure score in Test cricket.

Aiming to play the big shot which would secure his century, Strauss came down the wicket to Kumble, who forced England's opener to stretch and edge the ball to Rahul Dravid at slip.

Strauss's highest Test score for 11 months signalled a return to form following his recent lack of productivity, but his dismissal, closely followed by those of Vaughan and Collingwood, made for a disappointing end to an otherwise promising start to the series by England.

On a day restricted to 80.3 overs by bad light, England capitalised on some wayward early bowling by the tourists, Strauss and Essex opener Alastair Cook racing to 40 without loss in only five overs.

India rarely looked like making a breakthrough in the early stages, but the introduction of Sourav Ganguly quickly changed things, Cook falling to lbw within four balls and Vaughan surviving a strong appeal.

However, Vaughan soon regained his composure, growing in confidence as he guided Strauss towards the three-figure mark. Strauss had one reprieve when he drove Sreesanth straight to Dinesh Karthik at point, but India's reserve wicketkeeper spurned the chance and the 30-year-old became increasingly fluent until falling to Kumble.

Nightwatchman Ryan Sidebottom wisely took an offer of bad light shortly after the loss of Vaughan, preventing India from making any further inroads into the impressive foundations laid by England earlier in the day.