by Cricbiz
London, Aug 1: This is the first time that India have lost two consecutive Tests in England since 1974. This is also the first time that MS Dhoni has lost two consecutive Tests in his captaincy stint. One must feel for Rahul Dravid here. Before this series, whenever Dravid has scored a century, India have lost only once. Now, he has scored two consecutive centuries in two matches and India have lost both. England are now in a great position to clinch this series in Edgbaston, but India will be determined to bounce back. However, for the time being, it is a very disappointed Team India. Stay tuned for the presentation ceremony.
Tim Bresnan was the star as he picked up his maiden five wicket haul in Tests. Tendulkar sparkled with his 60th Test fifty but it was a bridge too far for the India team as they suffered their biggest loss in terms of runs against England. This 319 run loss will be a bitter pill to swallow for MS Dhoni and his men.
There was a ray of hope when the openers departed cheaply. But, Bell and KP stepped up to the plate and took the Indian bowling apart. Bell registered his first century against India and backed from fifties by Morgan, Prior and Bresnan, England amassed 544. The abject display by the Indian bowling on the third day put England in the driver's seat and they never looked back.
In stepped Stuart Broad and he blew away the Indian tail with a hat-trick, the first ever taken at Trent Bridge. This was also the first Test hat-trick against India in Tests. India lost their last six wickets for only 21 runs. A potential lead of 100-150 plus was cut down to only 67 runs.
This has been England's Test match. It did not begin that way when they were reduced to 124/8 in the first day. However, a brilliant 73 run partnership for the ninth wicket between Broad and Swann helped England reach 221. It was Rahul Dravid's brilliant 34th Test century that allowed India to reach 267/4 and it looked like India would build a healthy lead.
The crowd are on their feet here at Trent Bridge. They are applauding an England team that have outplayed India in all facets of the game. Be it in the batting, be it in the bowling and be it in their fielding, England were the superior team
Stuart Broad is the MoM for his 108 runs and 8 wickets, including a hat-trick
Broad:
"It is pleasing but it is important to win matches. I am glad to go 2-0 up. The wickets were hard to come by but I am happy to pick up some wickets. I and Swann never needed encouragement and we just needed to score some quick runs. I have had a hat-trick in the U-15 level but the atmosphere here is different. I have been bowling a fuller length and I tend not to look too far back in the past. We have great depth. Tremlett was out and Bresnan came in and he chipped in so it is good that we have such depth in the team."
Strauss:
"There have been some outstanding performances in the Test matches. Stuart Broad coming back with the second new ball and I am proud of what we have done this week. Bresnan was unlucky not to be playing the first match but he has never let anybody down. He gives it his best and it makes things harder and harder for us. We told Broad and Swann to play their natural game. They have done it before and it is hard for opposition captains to set fields for them. Bell played an outstanding innings and he is in the form of his life. It is a very commendable decision from MS (about the Bell recall) but I can understand as a captain you have to take some tough decisions. I would have done the same thing. We are in a better position and whoever misses out will be unlucky. We do not know the extent of Trott's injury. He has gone for a scan but we hope he will be fit. The primary goal is to win the next match and be the No.1 side in Tests.
MS Dhoni:
"Those 100 runs mattered in the first innings when they were 124/8 and we could not capitalize with the bat. We tried quite a few things and I felt the bowlers were a bit tired. The English batsmen played some brave shots and some of the mishits landed safely. It was that kind of day when nothing went right for us. It is a big concern because this is a continuation of the West Indies series. Even there we could not put up some big scores. We are a side known for our batting and we need to put some runs on the board. I do not know where we exactly stand on Zaheer's fitness but most of the time, I have had to manage with three bowlers. My form is a big concern but we need to see whether we are doing all the things right. When we went back to the dressing room, everything was ok but none of us were feeling right from the inside (talking about the Bell recall). Once you go back to the dressing room, you need to feel right. This is what I felt and I am glad that we did it. In the West Indies, Laxman faced a similar decision and I am glad that we did it. We will see how Sehwag goes in the practice game but hopefully he can come and give some reinforcements to the team. When you play at the top level, we will face some tough situations and we will look to put a good fight.
It was difficult with just 3 bowlers. In the last Test match, it was Zaheer and now it was Harbhajan. Once you lose a bowler, you want a similar kind of bowler to replace him. In both the games, it was a big factor and made a differene of 50 runs or so. Gambhir is sure for the next test match. Viru will be back before the next practice match so hopefully he is fit too. I can't really exactly say what happened to Bhajji but he had a stomach muscle problem which prevented him from bowling. Our bowlers have been bowling a lot. In 2011 alone, they have bowled around 900 odd overs which is a lot. It takes a toll on them, mentally and physically. Hopefully the batting also does well. International cricket is all about challenges. We have done really well against strong oppositions but it is never a guarantee. This is a fair example to say that we are not at our best right now, whatever the reasons may be. The coming 2-3 weeks will be really tough but we are looking forward to it as a team .
Final scoreboard of the second cricket Test between India and England on the fourth day at Trent Bridge here Monday.
England first innings: 221 all out
India first innings: 288 all out
England second innings: (overnight 441/6)
Andrew Strauss c Dhoni b Sreesanth 16
Alastair Cook c Yuvraj Singh b Sharma 5
Ian Bell c Laxman b Yuvraj Singh 159
Kevin Pietersen c Dhoni b Sreesanth 63
Eoin Morgan c Dhoni b Kumar 70
Matt Prior c Dhoni b Kumar 73
Jonathan Trott c Dravid b Kumar 2
Tim Bresnan c Dravid b Kumar 90
Stuart Broad run out (sub [WP Saha]) 44
Graeme Swann c sub (W.P. Saha) b Sharma 3
James Anderson not out 1
Extras: (b-9, lb-5, w-2, nb-2) 18
Total: (all out in 120.2 overs) 544
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Cook, 3.4 overs), 2-57 (Strauss, 19.1), 3-219 (Pietersen, 55.2), 4-323 (Bell, 77.6), 5-329 (Morgan, 80.2), 6-339 (Trott, 82.4), 7-458 (Prior, 102.4), 8-540 (Broad, 115.4), 9-540 (Bresnan, 115.5), 10-544 (Swann, 120.2)
Bowling:
Praveen Kumar 36-5-124-4
Ishant Sharma 29.2-4-131-2
S. Sreesanth 27-5-135-2
Yuvraj Singh 11-0-51-1
Harbhajan Singh 9-1-47-0
Suresh Raina 8-0-42-0
India second innings (target: 478 runs)
Abhinav Mukund c Strauss b Bresnan 3
Rahul Dravid c Prior b Broad 6
V.V.S. Laxman b Anderson 4
Sachin Tendulkar lbw Anderson 56
Suresh Raina c sub (Elstone) b Bresnan 1
Yuvraj Singh c Cook b Bresnan 8
Mahendra Singh Dhoni lbw b Bresnan 0
Harbhajan Singh c sub (Elstone) b Bresnan 46
Praveen Kumar b Anderson 25
Ishant Sharma not out 8
Sreesanth b Broad 0
Extras (b 1) 1
Total (all out in 47.4 overs) 158
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Dravid, 3.6 overs), 2-13 (Laxman, 6.6), 3-31 (Mukund, 13.5), 4-37 (Raina, 15.5), 5-55 (Yuvraj Singh, 25.5), 6-55 (Dhoni, 25.6), 7-107 (Tendulkar, 36.3), 8-129 (Harbhajan Singh, 39.3), 9-153 (Kumar, 44.5)
Bowling:
James Anderson 17-3-51-3
Stuart Broad 14.4-5-30-2
Tim Bresnan 12-2-48-5
Graeme Swann 3-0-21-0
Kevin Pietersen 1-0-7-0
Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and Marais Erasmus (South Africa)
TV umpire: Billy Bowden (New Zealand)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka)