Live Test Match Blogging / Andrew Hughes / 21 July 2011 /

The big day has finally arrived and the battle for the number one Test ranking can begin. In between regular breaks for tea, Andrew Hughes will be keeping you updated on all the goings on at Lord's as England take on the world's best Test team

CLOSE England 127-2
The umpires have finally put us out of our misery, play called off for the day, no doubt to the relief of the England batsman. It's been an interesting day's play, if not a thriller and England just have the edge, I reckon. Join me tomorrow at 10:30 for what will hopefully be a full day's play.

18:15 England 127-2
Bad news. The covers are coming back on and there's drizzle around. Apparently, we can play after 7 but that will depend on this rain stopping soon. I don't think Pietersen and Trott will be too anxious to get out there.

17:40 England 127-2
The covers are coming off and, assuming the ground drains quickly, we could be looking at a 6:30 start, which means a potentially tricky 30 minutes for England to survive. Might be India's last chance to get the early edge.

17:15 England 127-2
The umpires are strolling out to have a look. It may not yet be all over for the day as we can in theory play till 7pm. The clouds have lifted a little and light shouldn't be a problem now. And we're hearing there will be an inspection at 5:30. Possibly a 6 pm start and a tricky hour for England to face?

16:30 England 127-2
I take it back. Rain has been falling steadily at Lord's and play has yet to resume. While we're waiting, get in touch at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk and let me know where you think the balance of power lies in this game. Are England getting on top? Or is the draw the big winner at the moment?

TEA England 127-2
England happy enough to go off and the game is swinging their way, the injury to Zaheer leaving the Indian bowling drastically depleted. Back in 20 minutes for an extra long evening session.

15:52 England 127-2
Oh dear. A full house at Lord's. The floodlights are on. So the umpires take the players off. Not great, unless they are certain that a downpour is on the way. Presumably there'll be an early tea break.

15:38 England 121-2
It's getting a touch gloomy at Lord's and the floodlights are coming on. There's another pause in proceedings as Harbhajan has asked for sawdust. There is no limit to the number of ways in which a Test match can be delayed.

15:32 England 117-2
Fifty for Trott. He's done it again, having never really looked comfortable. The absence of Zaheer could have tilted things significantly in England's favour. Harbhajan is on but hasn't looked too dangerous yet.

15:20 England 107-2
Ouch. Bad news for India as it appears Zaheer has pulled a hamstring and is limping off the field. This is the danger in playing only four bowlers. India have shot up at [11.5] in the match odds market.

15:00 England 92-2
Just when England thought they'd weathered the storm, back comes Zaheer and almost immediately beats Pietersen with a beauty.

14:42 England 81-2
Trott and Pietersen are still there, but they are somewhat unconvincing at the moment. Slightly surprising that India are [7.6] in the match odds market, having been as short as [5.4] this morning.

14:15 England 64-2
Strauss's dismissal was a shocker and his bad run continues. He managed just 27 runs in 4 innings against Sri Lanka and has yet to manage 50 Test runs in total this summer. His captaincy, too, has been criticised of late, Michael Vaughan labelling him as too defensive. Portugese Pirate has emailed Betfairliveblogger@hotmail on this theme, recalling Strauss's late declaration in the West Indies which left England with too little time to take 10 wickets: 'I have a feeling that at some stage throughout this series, this unadventurous approach will come back to bite England on the backside'.

14:06 England 62-2
Pietersen has made a cagey start against Ishant and has just played and missed. These are tricky overs for England. On the plus side for KP, there's no Yuvraj in this Indian team, indeed, no left-arm spinners at all.

WICKET Strauss c Sharma b Zaheer 22
Poor shot from Strauss; surprised by a crafty short ball from Zaheer, but it was well outside the offstump; he hooks and finds Ishant Sharma waiting in the deep. There were two fielders out there for that very shot and that's well-worked by India.

13:45 England 50-1
Fifty up for England and a crucial session that could set the tone of the Test match is underway. Don't forget that you can get in touch at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk. Portugese Pirate has done just that and has some interesting things to say about Strauss's captaincy, of which more shortly

LUNCH England 43-1
A shortened first session is over with honours even. All of the Indian bowlers have looked good but only have the one wicket to show for it. England could well have weathered the worst of the batting conditions. We'll be back in forty minutes.

12:52 England 40-1
Dropped! Harbhajan is on and second ball induced an edge from Trott, but Dravid at slip couldn't quite hold on. That would have been a major blow for England.

12:47 England 39-1
Trott's at the crease and the odds on a draw have dropped a little to [1.74]. The two events are not entirely unconnected. Surely that's too short at this stage? Strauss is starting to look more confident and lunch approaches.

12:25 England 19-1
We'll be seeing Ishant Sharma soon, but meanwhile Zaheer is still going strong, beating Strauss with a beauty. This is an absorbing struggle.

WICKET A Cook lbw b Zaheer 12
Excellent decision from Asad Rauf and, as Ed Hawkins predicted in his preview of the top batsman markets, Zaheer has out-thought the prolific England opener. India have their breakthrough.

12:00 England 13-0
This is good stuff. Praveen getting some swing; Cook and Strauss battling hard. But with nearly half an hour gone, India would have hoped for a breakthrough given the bowling conditions. Zaheer doesn't look at his best yet though. The draw price is dropping though, [1.78] and falling.

11:42 England 4-0
England have their first runs, controlled shot from Cook, past gully. A nervy start, but they're underway.

11:32 England 0-0
We're underway. Zaheer opening the bowling. He is India's main bowling threat, but he hasn't been in great form on this tour so far. It's going to be a cagey first session, but a fascinating one. England [3.35] to win the Test.

11:15 Delayed Start
England have gone with Broad over Bresnan. The Indian team contains a couple of names that may not be familiar to England viewers. Praveen Kumar is the third seamer, on the back of an excellent performance in the West Indies and Abhinav Mukund, a 21-year-old playing in his fourth Test

11:00 Delayed Start
India win the toss! No surprise to hear Dhoni put England in. There'll be something for the Indian seamers early on, but if England can get through the first session, there are plenty of runs in this pitch. You can get [5.3] about an Indian win, but the draw is understandably favourite given the strength of these batting line-ups.

10:54 Delayed Start
News from the middle is that the toss will happen at 11:00 and we'll be starting at 11:30. The rumours are that Stuart Broad has retained his place, but it must have been a close call. Get in touch and let me know what you think at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk Surely Tim Bresnan would make better use of these overcast conditions?

Morning all, welcome to what could be a cracking Test series between two of the world's top three sides. There's drizzle in the air in North London, but the covers are off and we are due an inspection at 10:50. Meanwhile, take a look at some of the excellent articles on the Betting.Betfair website, the pick of which is Ed Hawkins' betting preview.

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