Notwithstanding a masterly 76 from Sachin Tendulkar, India squandered a promising start to end at 273 for seven on day one of the third cricket Test against England on Wednesday.
The visitors' bowlers, led by pacer James Anderson (3/68) and tweaker Monty Panesar (2/74), bowled inspiring spells as India were found on the back foot by stumps. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (22) and Zaheer Khan (0) are in the middle after India opted to bat at Eden Gardens.
The high points of the Indian innings were Tendulkar's fluent and confident half-century and his 79-run fifth wicket pairing with Yuvraj Singh (32), the only 50-plus partnership of the day, that gave some respectability to the hosts.
In the morning, however, it was opener Gautam Gambhir who came up with a gritty 60 and was involved in three stands which raised hopes of a big first innings score. The Delhi left hander put on 47 with Virender Sehwag (23), 41 with Cheteshwar Pujara (16) and 29 with Tendulkar, who got his first half-century since the early January match against Australia at Sydney.
Gambhir and Sehwag never seemed in any trouble against the pacers who did not get much movement, prompting skipper Alastair Cook to summon spinner Panesar as early as the eighth over. England drew first blood in the 11th over when Sehwag was run out after a misunderstanding with Gambhir.
Gambhir, who played a gritty 65 in the second innings of the Mumbai test for a lost cause, looked determined and played some crisp shots. Pujara, who joined the action after Sehwag's fall, returned in the 26th over when Panesar broke through his solid defence, with the score at 88.
Lunch was taken at 90 for two, and the second session saw Gambhir and Tendulkar play cautiously before the steady looking Gambhir edged an away going delivery to the slip. The bowler was once again Panesar, who started to look threatening after the pitch offered him some help.
But Anderson snared Virat Kohli (6) when the batsman edged one to Graeme Swann waiting at the slips. Tendulkar slowly grew in confidence, and started unleashing some of his trademark shots. He flicked a stray ball down the leg side to long leg, for a four to reach his half-century. But Tendulkar, much like the rest of his team, failed to capitalise on a good start edging a reverse swinging Anderson ball to keeper Matt prior. His knock was studded with 13 shots to the fence.
The visitors' bowlers, led by pacer James Anderson (3/68) and tweaker Monty Panesar (2/74), bowled inspiring spells as India were found on the back foot by stumps. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (22) and Zaheer Khan (0) are in the middle after India opted to bat at Eden Gardens.
The high points of the Indian innings were Tendulkar's fluent and confident half-century and his 79-run fifth wicket pairing with Yuvraj Singh (32), the only 50-plus partnership of the day, that gave some respectability to the hosts.
In the morning, however, it was opener Gautam Gambhir who came up with a gritty 60 and was involved in three stands which raised hopes of a big first innings score. The Delhi left hander put on 47 with Virender Sehwag (23), 41 with Cheteshwar Pujara (16) and 29 with Tendulkar, who got his first half-century since the early January match against Australia at Sydney.
Gambhir and Sehwag never seemed in any trouble against the pacers who did not get much movement, prompting skipper Alastair Cook to summon spinner Panesar as early as the eighth over. England drew first blood in the 11th over when Sehwag was run out after a misunderstanding with Gambhir.
Gambhir, who played a gritty 65 in the second innings of the Mumbai test for a lost cause, looked determined and played some crisp shots. Pujara, who joined the action after Sehwag's fall, returned in the 26th over when Panesar broke through his solid defence, with the score at 88.
Lunch was taken at 90 for two, and the second session saw Gambhir and Tendulkar play cautiously before the steady looking Gambhir edged an away going delivery to the slip. The bowler was once again Panesar, who started to look threatening after the pitch offered him some help.
But Anderson snared Virat Kohli (6) when the batsman edged one to Graeme Swann waiting at the slips. Tendulkar slowly grew in confidence, and started unleashing some of his trademark shots. He flicked a stray ball down the leg side to long leg, for a four to reach his half-century. But Tendulkar, much like the rest of his team, failed to capitalise on a good start edging a reverse swinging Anderson ball to keeper Matt prior. His knock was studded with 13 shots to the fence.