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13-Jul-2014 16:20:00 GMT
England v India, 1st Investec Test, Trent Bridge

India Bat Out Day to Draw First Test

Nottingham: India overcome an early wobble to bat out the final day and draw the first Test against England at Trent Bridge.

Resuming on 167-3 - leading by 128 - the tourists lost three early wickets to raise the prospect of an England fourth-innings run-chase.

But debutant Stuart Binny hit 78 and number nine Bhuvneshwar Kumar his second half-century of the match as India closed on 391-9 - 352 in front.

The second Test of the five-match series starts on Thursday at Lord's.

Stuart Binny's maiden Test fifty and a stubborn 91-run stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped India reach 347/8 at tea on the final day.

Resuming at 230/6, England opted to take the second new ball and James Anderson got the vital wicket of Ravindra Jadeja for 31. However, Binny and Bhuvneshwar dug in and played out time. Binny, in particular, showed immense patience and displayed a sound temperament under pressure as he slowly pushed India forward. Bhuvneshwar, who scored his maiden fifty in the first innings, was promoted up the order at No. 8 and he looked solid.

Binny survived some testing spells from Ben Stokes and Anderson as he cautiously went past his fifty. As the partnership gained momentum, England's bowlers lost their line and length as the game just drifted away to a tame draw.

It was the time for personal achievements as Binny made good strides towards scoring his first century. However, he was denied by Moeen Ali as he trapped him LBW for 78. It was a wonderful knock under pressure from Binny and this knock will make for some interesting conundrums ahead of the second Test at Lord's.

Bhuvneshwar and Ishant Sharma then batted out the second session without any discomfort. Ishant had a life when Anderson dropped a simple chance off Joe Root on 5. His lack of interest after dropping the catch summed up the direction in which the Test was heading.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad started the day with some accurate and probing bowling. Broad, in particular, added a bit more zip to his speed as he consistently troubled the batsmen. He accounted for Virat Kohli yet again in the second over of the day as the batsman missed a straight ball to be LBW for 8.

Broad generated some swing as well and he snapped up Ajinkya Rahane for 24 with an away swinger which Rahane edged it to Matt Prior. England's bowlers were running in as they dried the flow of runs.

MS Dhoni was dropped on 5 by Alastair Cook off Broad but he could not capitalize on the life. His feet were rooted to the crease as he looked to whip Liam Plunkett's in-dipper through mid wicket, but the ball hit his pads and crashed into the stumps as the captain departed for 11.

At the other end, Ravindra Jadeja was playing an uncharacteristic knock. He did not get off the mark for 37 balls, was beaten a few times and he got off the mark by charging down the track and lofting Anderson for a boundary straight down the ground. He held firm and was ably assisted by Stuart Binny who hit a couple of wonderful boundaries.

Binny survived some nervous moments off Ben Stokes as he hung in there. Both batsmen have now built an unbroken 46-run partnership and they will be looking to push the lead to safer regions.

Brief scores
India -
457 (Vijay 146, Anderson 3-123) and 391/9d (Binny 78, Kumar 63*, Ali 3-105)
England - 496 (Root 154*, Anderson 81, Kumar 5-82, Sharma 3-150)
Result - Drawn


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