England delight Vaughan

23 July 2007

India's defiant rearguard action frustrates Michael Vaughan and Ian Bell © Getty Images

Captain Michael Vaughan refused to have his spirits dampened by the wet weather which cruelly denied England victory in the opening npower Test at Lord’s.

India clung on for a draw by the slimmest of margins, reaching 282 for nine by the time bad light and subsequent rain made a decisive intervention at 3.35pm.

England’s most inexperienced Test attack for six years began the final day requiring seven India wickets for victory, in the knowledge the clock was against them.

Such was the light during the closing overs prior to a premature tea that Vaughan was forced to bowl his off-spin in tandem with Monty Panesar’s slow left-armers as umpires Simon Taufel and Steve Bucknor deemed fast bowling unsuitable for the conditions.

But Vaughan had no quibble over the decision to leave the field with England one ball away from a 1-0 lead in the npower series.

“There were no complaints from me,” he said. “If I had been on the batting side I would have wanted to go off because it was pretty dark.”

Despite a lack of international nous, the four-man unit turned in another concerted effort to get their side within sight of the line and were only held up by a rearguard from Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

It was arguably the best overall display with the ball since the heady days of two years ago when Andrew Flintoff and Co rattled the Australians.

James Anderson finished the match with seven wickets, Ryan Sidebottom six and debutant Chris Tremlett four.

“There was a lot of talk before the match about the fact we were going in with a young team,” said Vaughan. “We went in with that team and produced a tremendous performance.

Peter Moores and Vaughan wait in vain for play to restart

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“We played very positively, a really good game. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get that last wicket.

“We batted well and I thought our young bowlers bowled extremely well. We put a really experienced Indian line-up under a lot of pressure.

“It is probably the best we’ve bowled since 2005 - the four of them produced real performances which all can be very proud of.”

Challenging the theory that coming so close to success might deflate his side when the second Test begins in Nottingham later this week, Vaughan recalled how the Ashes-winning summer incorporated a win after Australia hung on nine wickets down at Old Trafford.

“We have got a lot of positives from this game but it will count for nothing if we don’t carry that into the Test on Friday,” Vaughan added. “We went to Trent Bridge and produced a really good performance there.

“Like then we have to get ahead of the opposition early when we start again.”

Dhoni is renowned for attacking innings but showed an appetite for the fight, surviving a confident appeal for caught behind off Anderson moments before lunch, to finish unbeaten on 76.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni cuts on his way to 76 not out at Lord's

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“This is a new episode in my cricketing career,” said Dhoni. “It was very different from my normal game but that is what the situation demanded.

“Especially when I was just about to go out to bat, I thought about how to take on this innings and the challenges coming forward.

“I knew it would be a really tough day and if we lost a few wickets we would have to save the game.

“Playing like this is very different for me but this is as important as winning a match.”

Having lost matches in Jamaica and Durban in recent years minutes before dark light and rain took effect, India captain Rahul Dravid was pleased to be all square.

“There was a sense of relief in the dressing room,” he admitted. “You can never have the same feeling as winning the Test match but it will give us confidence going into the second Test level.

“The thought did cross my mind that in previous Tests we were left knowing if we had batted for an extra half-hour we could have saved the match.

“It’s just nice to get away with one of those rather than losing one.”