Collingwood Sheds Utility-man Tag to Revive England

Paul Collingwood began this tour resigned to the fact that he would probably be carrying the drinks, but fate decreed otherwise and today he hit a superb unbeaten 134 to drag England back into contention in the first Test.

Resuming on a perilous 246 for seven, England were eventually dismissed for a respectable 393, with Collingwood coaxing defiance out of each of his three tail-end partners. The early wicket of Virender Sehwag maintained England’s momentum, only for Wasim Jaffer (73) and Rahul Dravid (40) to bat India back into contention with an unbroken second-wicket stand of 125. This game is exquisitely poised.

In advance, it looked like a lost cause for England, but Collingwood has had plenty of time to master the art of positive thinking during a Test career that occasionally looked as if it would never take off. Today he simply refused to give up. Living off nudges to leg and the odd blow down the ground, Collingwood added 81 in 37 overs to his overnight score of 53, and infused the tail with a confidence that no one had seen coming, least of all India.

He added a gritty 23 for the eighth wicket with Matthew Hoggard, who faced 41 balls for his 11; 60 for the ninth with the aggressive Steve Harmison, who faced 42 for his 39; and, most incredibly of all, 66 for the 10th with Monty Panesar, who faced 43 for his nine. By the time Panesar was trapped in front by an inducking yorker to give Sri Sreesanth his fourth wicket on debut, England had extended their first innings until half an hour after lunch. It was beyond their wildest dreams.

Yet it was also a reminder of England’s recklessness on the first day. The pitch remained slow, flat and true, but this time India’s bowlers were made to work harder by Collingwood, who is in no mood to take risks these days as he tries to shake off the tag of utility man. He lost Hoggard in the 10th over of the day, caught behind off Sreesanth, but then found a more assertive partner in Harmison, who swept Anil Kumble for four, then pounded Sreesanth for three fours in succession.

But when he was stumped, trying to hit Harbhajan Singh down the ground for the second time in three balls, Collingwood was still 21 runs short of the maiden Test century that narrowly eluded him at Lahore. Since Panesar’s reputation with the bat preceded him - he has a first-class average of less than eight - hopes were not high, but Panesar got his head down and Collingwood raced through the 90s with a two, a six, and a three in the same Harbhajan over. His century had taken 224 balls and exemplified the way to play on sub continental pitches; for Graham Thorpe in 2000-01, read Collingwood in 2005-06, even if the flat-batted six, his fourth of the innings, down the ground off Irfan Pathan was a shot all of his own.

England’s mood improved even further when Sehwag lifted Hoggard’s slower ball straight to extra cover in the third over of India’s reply, and Kevin Pietersen held on to the sort of catch he spent most of last summer dropping. And there might have been another breakthrough before tea when Panesar twice went up for lbw shouts against Jaffer. The first was more convincing than the second, but Panesar’s heart didn’t seem in it; Shane Warne might have been able to persuade the umpire otherwise.

Panesar bowled with accuracy and intelligence, and - with Ashley Giles watching back in London from the Sky studios - he did it for most of the time from round the wicket, which opened up the possibility of lbws. But Jaffer grew in confidence, especially through square-leg, and Dravid drew England’s sting with characteristic studiousness. As the fast bowlers tired, the batsmen began to put the pitch in perspective, and the worry now must be that India will build a lead of about 150 by mid-afternoon on Saturday.

If that happens, England could yet face a last-day struggle on a wearing pitch against Indian spinners who are itching to get into the game.