England Lions expose Indian attack

CHELMSFORD, July 13: A toothless Indian bowling attack stood thoroughly exposed as England Lions, riding on a sparkling unbeaten century by all-rounder Tim Bresnan and crisp half centuries from Joe Denly and Stuart Broad, rattled up 379 for eight on the opening day of the three-day tie on Friday.
At stumps, Bresnan was not out 116 with Chris Tremlett (8) giving him company.Bresnan's 116-run knock included 15 fours and one six during his 156-ball stay.
Coming in to bat with the hosts precariously placed at 185 for six, the 22-year old Bresnan displayed a cool head before opening out to play some fine shots all round the wicket. He batted with just the right mix of caution and aggression to feature in a thrilling eighth wicket stand of 129 runs with Broad (50) that steered his team to safety.
Like at Hove, India again let the opposition off the hook after nailing them down at 225 for seven at the tea break.
Broad was dropped twice, first by Mahendra Dhoni -- the batsman was yet to open account -- and then Ramesh Powar and India had to pay the price for the dropped chances.
Among the Indian bowlers Zaheer Khan took three for 99, while S Sreesath took two for 62. Powar took two for 96 but he undid all the good work by dropping Broad. Ishant Sharma had a bad day as he went for 61 runs from his 12 overs and bowled as many as 15 no balls.
After England Lions had won a good toss and had little hesitation in batting first on a firm batting pitch, Zaheer gave the Indians a perfect start when he sent Andrew Strauss' (1) off stump cartwheeling. Next man in, Owais Shah (11) looked to play too many shots and paid the penalty when he hooked a short one from Sreesanth straight to Zaheer at long leg.
Despite the reversals, Joe Denly (83), the 21-year old batsman from Kent, batted with great confidence to pick up some gorgeous boundaries in front of the wicket and also off his pads. Jonathan Trot (46) was more of a spectator to his colleague from Kent and Denly showed scant respect for the Indian bowlers driving powerfully and collecting most of his runs in boundaries.
Zaheer faced Denly's ire in his fifth over which cost him 21 runs as Denly dispatched him to the ropes five times. Denly brought up his 50 with a flick off Ishant Sharma and celebrated it too with a smashing cover drive off the pacer.
England Lions went to lunch at 128 for two but their fortunes changed dramatically in the post-lunch session when Sachin Tendulkar brought Powar into the attack. The offie immediately got rid of Denly, who charged out at a flighted delivery, missed and was smartly stumped by Dhoni. Denly's entertaining 90-ball knock of 83 had 16 boundaries in it.
Trot followed his partner into the dressing room soon after when Zaheer bowled a redeeming spell and was rewarded with two quick wickets. He had Trot caught at first slip by Sourav Ganguly for 46 (92b, 5x4) and also had Tim Ambrose caught at the wicket for four. Powar delighted his colleagues when he had Adil Rashid (0) caught and bowled as England slipped from 174 for three to 185 for six losing three wickets within a space of 11 runs.
Ravi Bopara (29) and Bresnen then batted carefully to stitch together a decent partnership as England Lions brought up their 200. However, in the last over before tea, Tendulkar brought himself on and struck a vital blow when he dismissed Bopara caught at short leg. But in the final session, both Bresnan and Broad made the most of a weary looking Indian attack that had no support from the fielders. While Bresnan found the gaps regularly, Broad used the long handle to great effect.
Bresnan finally reached his hundred when he made the most of a rank bad ball from Zaheer flicking him to the mid-wicket fence. He then celebrated his milestone by clouting the seamer for two more fours in the same over. Bresnan's 100 came off 141 balls and included 14 boundaries and one towering six off Powar.
Broad posted his half century before falling to Sreesanth bowling with the second new ball. His 50 came off 91 balls and he hit six fours.
India left out Ranadeb Bose from the playing eleven and named Gautam Gambhir as the 12th man.