England v India Day Five: Close of play summary

England Cricket / Andrew Hughes / 25 July 2011 /

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Jimmy was the star of the final day

"There is a long way to go in this series and India are not going to give up their number one status without a fight. Expect a strong Indian fightback in Nottingham."

England stuck at their task and got their reward. Andrew Hughes rounds up the final day's play from Lord's and looks ahead to the rest of the series.

England have been the better team throughout and, unlike in 2007, when an outplayed India escaped with a draw at Lord's, Andrew Strauss's men were able to force home their advantage and take a deserved series lead. James Anderson was the mainstay of the bowling, making up for his slightly disappointing first innings effort but the others played their part and they kept up an intensity in the field that, in the end, was too much for India.

The tourists can take some credit from the game. Despite losing Zaheer Khan early on and clearly being a little rusty, they didn't roll over and at one point on Sunday morning, they were right in the game. Their problem is that the Second Test at Trent Bridge is on Friday and it will be tough for the team to lift themselves for that contest. It isn't clear yet whether Zaheer will be fit, but it seems unlikely, so their bowling will be weaker as they try to get back into the series.

Having said all that, odds of [1.41] on an England series win are far too short. There is a long way to go in this series and India are not going to give up their number one status without a fight. Expect a strong Indian fightback in Nottingham.

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