Cook Shines But England Struggle

It could have been a lot worse. But England must know that, after winning the toss on a flat Nagpur pitch against a four-man Indian attack, it should also have been much better. At 246 for 7, they are still at least 150 short of par, and it said a lot for the underachievement of their bigger names that the two grittiest innings were produced by Alastair Cook, a 21-year-old debutant, and Paul Collingwood, who would not even have played had everyone been available. The wheels are by no means off, but they are not exactly turning smoothly either. India are on top.

Yet in a week in which it seemed things could hardly get worse, England will prefer to dwell on the positives. From the moment Cook, one of three members of the team playing his first Test along with the left-arm spinners Ian Blackwell and Monty Panesar, hooked S Sreesanth (another debutant) for four in the second over of the day, it was clear that all was not lost.

Cook scored a double-century last season for Essex against the Australians and his maturity was on show again here. Tall, left-handed and watchful, he punched the ball strongly through the off-side off the back foot, and worked the spinners for singles to leg. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh becalmed him after lunch, but that was to be expected, and for a while Cook was holding the fort. The drive at a full-length ball from Irfan Pathan that cannoned onto his stumps when he had made 60 was almost his first mistake.

If Cook provided a glimpse of the future - and nearly helped England supporters forget the absence of Marcus Trescothick - then Collingwood was a welcome reminder of the immediate past. After scoring 96 and 80 in the third Test at Lahore, his no-frills application ensured that England did not cave in completely. He also provided the batting moment of the day, successfully backing himself to loft Kumble over deep midwicket for six to bring up his fifty. He is in real danger of becoming a subcontinent specialist.

England will argue that things might have been different if their stand-in captain Andrew Flintoff had not fallen lbw for 43 to a ball from Kumble that looked as if it was slipping down leg. England were 203 for 4 at the time and had hopes of scoring the 350 which represents the bare minimum on this pitch. But umpire Howell’s decision swung the day India’s way, and when Pathan brought the old ball back into Geraint Jones’s pads to win a more clear-cut shout for leg-before, England were 225 for 6 and struggling.

In truth, they only had themselves to blame. Andrew Strauss threw away a blazing start by chasing a wide one from the lively Sreesanth to be brilliantly caught by VVS Laxman at second slip for 28 (56 for 1), and it was 81 for 2 when Ian Bell misread Harbhajan’s arm-ball and was caught at the second attempt by Rahul Dravid at slip for 9.

Kevin Pietersen was dropped in the slips by Laxman off a loose prod, but in the same over tried to pull Sreesanth and got a bottom edge onto leg-stump for 15 to make it 110 for 3. It was hardly the shot of a man who had promised to curb his recklessness after Pakistan.

Cook’s demise made it 136 for 4, but while Collingwood and Flintoff were adding 67 for the fifth wicket an England revival was not out of the question. India, though, play the patience game superbly on their own pitches, and finished the day on a high when Blackwell dragged Pathan on for just 4. Collingwood will now need to persuade another 100 out of the last three wickets if India’s batsmen are not to run away with this game tomorrow.