Eng vs Ind,1st Test Match –Lords, London - Live Score & Streaming

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Zaheer removes Cook in testing session
Lunch England 43 for 1 (Strauss 20*, Trott 9*, Zaheer 1-9) India 

Alastair Cook was dismissed for less than 55 for the first time since last December, but England managed to get through the testing first session without further setbacks. Things would have looked entirely different had India converted two sharp chances: a run-out of Andrew Strauss when he was 2, and a low slip catch from Jonathan Trott, off the first ball Harbhajan Singh bowled, 10 minutes before lunch.

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In what must have been a pleasant surprise for India, MS Dhoni won the first toss of an away series for the second time in a row, and invited England to face the 90-minute session - curtailed because of early showers - under an overcast sky and on a naturally moist pitch. Responding to the captain's call, Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar ask persistent questions with each-way movement.

Strauss and Cook started in the traditional watchful manner, but when Zaheer finally removed Cook they had only reached 19 in 11 overs. It was a slightly surprisingly choice of ends for Zaheer and Praveen: Zaheer took the Nursery End, which would hamper his swing, and the Pavilion End helped Praveen's inswingers, not his more comfortable suit. That England open with two left-hand batsmen might have had a role to play, and it worked too: Zaheer got Cook with movement in, and Praveen kept troubling Strauss with the ball leaving him, sometimes after pitching outside leg.

The start lived up to the hype. The England openers - a prolific combination - played out three maidens at the start, taking time to get used to the tricks up the Indians' sleeves. The ball swung big, and Strauss and Cook played as late as possible. There were regular plays and misses, especially when Praveen bowled to Strauss. In a spell that read 9-4-18-0, he beat Strauss's edge six times, and thrice the edges didn't go to hand.

Cook nearly ran Strauss out in the seventh over, hitting straight to straight midwicket, taking a few steps down the wicket, and then turning his back. Ishant Sharma missed the stumps, and Strauss lived on. After close to 45 minutes of grim defending, Cook played across the line to one from Zaheer. The ball came in with the slope, and trapped him lbw. Zaheer's first spell: 7-3-9-1.

Trott and Strauss looked slightly more urgent after that. Strauss even upper-cut Ishant to get his first boundary, moving into the double figures off the 48th ball he faced. Trott was busier, nudging and deflecting, but the introduction of Harbhajan in the 19th over introduced circumspection into his game. The first ball, an offbreak, didn't turn as much as he expected, but the most prolific slipper, Rahul Dravid, failed to hold onto one low to his right.