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England [Images] fought back through their pacers to reduce India to 145 for 4 in the first innings at close on Day 2 of the first Test at Lord's on Friday.

Resuming on 268 for 4 after a three-hour rain delay, England lost their last six wickets for 26 runs and were bundled out for 298.

Pacer S Sreesanth [Images] took three wickets, all leg before wicket decisions, to finish with figures of 3 for 67 in 22 overs.

Zaheer Khan [Images] also showed tremendous improvement from his first day's performance to claim 2 for 62 as India turned around the match in fine style.

However, India's batting could not live up to expectations as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and sort of handed England the initiative back.

Wasim Jaffer finally found some form going on the tour as he came up with a battling half-century. He scored a solid 58 from 156 deliveries, hitting seven boundaries, as the rest of the batsman withered against the inexperienced England pace attack.

Sachin Tendulkar [Images], eyeing his first Test century at Lord's, fell way short of the mark, dismissed leg before wicket for 37. Captain Rahul Dravid [Images] also fell cheaply for 2.

Earlier, the start of play was delayed by almost three hours due to heavy rain in the morning, which washed out the entire session.

Post-lunch session: (66 runs, 27.5 overs, 8 wickets)

England resumed at 268 for 4 after a three-hour rain delay. India took the new ball and the bowlers got into the act instantly, claiming the wicket of Ryan Sidebottom in the third over of the day. The night-watchman was bowled by R P Singh for 1.

Off the next ball, Ian Bell [Images] announced his arrival at the crease, driving the left-armer straight down the ground for a boundary.

In the next over, Kevin Pietersen [Images] was caught behind off Zaheer Khan. As the right-hander started to walk back, television replays indicated that the ball had bounced before wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] could pouch it. There was a flutter around the ground as Pietersen started walking back to the pavilion but stopped after his teammates gestured to him to stay on the pitch.

Meanwhile, square leg umpire Steve Bucknor had walked up to Taufel and had a discussion with him. Taufel promptly consulted the third umpire and soon the giant screen at the ground flashed 'NOT OUT'.

Bell, normally known as a conservative batsman, seemed in an attacking mood. In the next over, the 85th over of the innings bowled by S Sreesanth, he got under a short ball and launched it over square for a huge six.

But Pietersen was unable to make the most of the reprieve. On 37, he again edged a delivery from Zaheer behind the wickets, but this time it went straight into Dhoni's gloves at waist height.

England were reduced to 286 for 6. The new ball was helping the Indian seamers and they now had a real chance of dismissing the hosts for under 300.

England's misery deepened when in the next over Matt Prior fell leg before wicket to Sreesanth. The England wicketkeeper tried to play on the leg side, but missed the ball completely and was struck high on the back leg. Television replays though showed that Prior was unlucky to be given out as the ball could have gone over the stumps.

Three balls later, Sreesanth got the wicket of debutant Chris Tremlett, once again a leg before wicket decision, but this time the batsman was caught in front of the stumps as England were reduced to 278 for 8.

Monty Panesar [Images] tried his best to hang on, but he also failed to read Sreesanth's swing and became the bowler's third leg before wicket victim while falling for a duck.

Zaheer then completed the final rites when he bowled Bell as the right-hander inside edged on to his stumps for 20.

England were bowled out for 298 in their first innings.

It was an eventful session; everything happened so quickly that it all seemed unbelievable. Just a couple of hours earlier we were wondering whether play would start at all because of the heavy rain. And when it did start, England surrendered so tamely, losing their last six wickets for 26 runs in 52 deliveries.

Sreesanth was the bowler of the morning for India, claiming three quick wickets to trigger England's collapse. He finished with respectable figures of 3 for 67 in 22 overs after terrible showing on day one.

The same holds for Zaheer, who claimed 2 for 62 including the important wicket of Pietersen. R P Singh (2 for 58) and Anil Kumble (2 for 60) also made vital contributions in India's remarkable fightback.

India innings:

Even the Indian openers, Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik, found it hard to negotiate the new ball as Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson time and again tested them outside the off-stump. But one quality that stood out was that both batsmen were eager to fight it out as they tried to play the ball as late as possible and on merit. There were no flashy shots away from the body nor was there any urgency to get on with the scoring; the only aim was to stay out there in the middle and play out the new ball.

Sidebottom kept testing the batsmen with his line and length just on and around the off-stump. In the eighth over, his persistence paid off as he broke through Karthik's defence to catch him right in front of the stumps for 5.

Captain Rahul Dravid, usually known to master such tough conditions, could not last long. He fell to a beautiful delivery from Anderson, as the ball pitched on off-stump and swung a bit, taking the edge to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

Dravid walked back for 2 as India found themselves in a bit of problem, reduced to 27 for 2 in the 12th over.

Sachin Tendulkar walked out to a loud applause in what could be his last appearance in a Test at Lord's with the obvious task of having to yet again rally India to a big score.

He negotiated a few overs and was unbeaten on 4 as India reached 36 for 2 at the tea break.

At the other end, Jaffer progressed nicely to 21 from 49 deliveries, inclusive of three boundaries.

Post-tea session: (109 runs, 41 overs, 2 wickets)

In the fourth over after resumption, Tendulkar flicked a delightful boundary to the square leg fence. It brought up a major milestone for the veteran batsman as he went past Steve Waugh into the third place for the most runs in Test cricket.

That boundary, which took him to 9, took his Test tally to 10,931 in his 138th Test, past Waugh's tally of 10,927 in 168 Tests. Only Brian Lara [Images] (11,953 runs in 131 Tests) and Allan Border (11,174 in 156 Tests) are ahead of him in the run-scoring chart in Tests.

Monty Panesar was introduced into the attack in the 33rd over of the innings and facing him was Tendulkar, his first victim in Test cricket. Tendulkar swept the second ball he faced from Panesar fine for a boundary and grew in confidence as his innings progressed. He even surpassed his best Test score at Lord's when he flicked Anderson through midwicket for a boundary to move to 34.

Jaffer, meanwhile, registered a half-century, his seventh in Test off 100 balls in the 35th over. Before the match, he faced a lot of criticism after his failures in the two tour matches, but here he produced a good, fighting knock.

The two Mumbai batsmen were looking in great touch. However, they were soon to be parted after adding 79 runs for the third wicket when Tendulkar fell leg before wicket to Anderson for 37. Just when he looked set for a big innings, the right-hander played across the line and was trapped before wicket.

Once again umpire Steve Bucknor gave a decision against Tendulkar, which some felt could have gone either way.

The dismissal of Tendulkar brought down the run rate and it seemed that Jaffer and Sourav Ganguly [Images] were playing for stumps. With nearly two hours to go, the two batsmen just tried to play out the overs instead of trying to be positive.

The two batsmen added 28 runs in just 18 overs before Chris Tremlett got the key wicket of Jaffer for 58. The debutant pacer bowled it a bit short, got it to bounce and Jaffer popped it straight back to the bowler as he tried to play a pull and then backed off.

The Mumbai opener batted with great resolve, hitting seven boundaries in his 156-ball knock, but his dismissal set India on the backfoot again as they were reduced to 134 for 4.

R P Singh was sent in as the night-watchman and managed to play out the final few overs as India finished the day on 145 for 4 in 57 overs.

Ganguly was unbeaten on 25 from 61 deliveries.

The Indian batsmen disappointed and undid all the good work by their bowlers earlier in the day. There is still some batting left and it is vital that R P Singh stays at the wicket for at least an hour tomorrow morning and denies England early success.

With the match as finely balanced as it, the first session on Saturday will be quite crucial, as both teams will look to take the upper hand.