England in Command Even After MS Dhoni's Resistance with the Bat on the Day One of Third Test at Edgbastan

Andrew Strauss half-century kept England in command after bowlers destroyed Indian batting

India were struggling at 205 for eight at tea despite Mahendra Singh Dhoni's counter-attacking unbeaten half-century on the opening day of the third cricket Test against England, here today.

The India skipper finally produced an innings of substance as he helped India cross the 200-mark after being reduced to 111 for seven at one stage, with Tim Bresnan (four for 62) and Stuart Broad (three for 47) doing the maximum damage.

Dhoni had smashed 61 off 72 balls and put on 84 runs for the eighth wicket with Praveen Kumar (26) after rival skipper Andrew Strauss put the visitors in.

The visitors, 75 for four at lunch, lost the wickets of Suresh Raina (2), VVS Laxman (30) and Amit Mishra (4) in no time on resumption, before Dhoni and Kumar did the recovery work.

Dhoni took 16 balls to get off the mark — through a pre-determined push to covers off Bresnan — but then took the attack to the opposition camp on an increasingly slow Edgbaston pitch.

He straight drove and pulled James Anderson for fours and then played Stuart Broad off the backfoot before pulling him for a four.

In his groove, Dhoni smote Anderson over mid-on for six and then lifted Tim Bresnan over midwicket for another maximum.

He reached his half century when he off-drove Graeme Swann, introduced into the attack in the 47th over, having faced 63 balls. He hit seven fours and two sixes.

Kumar, at the other end, was an ideal foil to his skipper. He too hit some effective boundaries, showing no respect to Swann, whom he also lofted for a six.

Pitch report: It has a fair amount of grass, but it will be on the slower side. It won't be as pacy as the ones we have had at Lord's and Trent Bridge. There will be lateral movement and it's quite damp. It's going to turn says Sourav Ganguly and the cracks are going to widen as the game progresses. Ganguly wants India to bat first if they win the toss. He reckons anything between 250-280 would be a decent score.

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