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Summary Chasing 458, India are 80 for the loss of one wicket at the stumps of day four at Lords vs England.
India made a solid start in its attempt to save the first test against England, reaching 80-1 at stumps on the fourth day Sunday after being set 458 to win at Lord’s.Rahul Dravid was 34 not out and VVS Laxman unbeaten on 32 by the close, with Stuart Broad taking the only wicket to fall after bowling Abhinav Mukund for 12.Broad, who earlier scored 74 not out in an unbroken stand of 162 with Matt Prior, had figures of 1-12.Earlier, Prior scored 103 not out with five fours and a six from 120 balls as England declared on 269-6. Broad hit nine boundaries in 90 balls.Ishant Sharma had dragged India back into the contest during the morning session, with a spell of 3-1 from 16 balls left England in trouble on 72-5 at lunch. But he ran out of steam in the afternoon and finished with figures of 4-59.England urgently needed a partnership when Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior began a counterattack at the start of the afternoon session, steering the home side past the 100 mark.Sharma briefly reignited the contest when he drew Morgan into a rash pull that was caught by a diving Gautam Gambhir at midwicket. Morgan stood his ground and was only given out by umpire Billy Bowden after a review.Yet England regained the initiative with clever running between the wickets, aided by sloppy fielding.Boundaries were hard to come by but when Prior cover drove Harbhajan for four, the bowler threw his hat in the air in exasperation as the game appeared to drift away from India, whose frustration grew when Broad sliced a Kumar delivery through the slips.Gambhir, fielding at square leg, was hit on the point of the elbow by a fierce drive from Prior. He was taken to hospital for an x-ray, which revealed severe bruising, but no broken bones.Prior moved to 50, from 78 balls late in the session, while Broad passed the same landmark from 76 balls 25 minutes after tea.Prior brought up his hundred with a brilliant cover drive and England immediately declared.India was forced to reshuffle its batting order due to the injuries to Tendulkar and Gambhir, forcing Dravid to open with Mukund.They put on 19 for the first wicket before Mukund played on to Broad and was bowled for 12.However, the experienced Laxman joined Dravid to bat through to stumps, leaving England needing another nine wickets to win, and India another 378 runs.
