Hindustan Times (Delhi)

N ANANTHANAR­AYANAN

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NOTTINGHAM: The beauty of playing cricket in England is taking advantage of its fickle weather.

Although India are playing in the second half of English summer, hot conditions leading up to the series gave way to damp weather with rain and overcast conditions spicing it up in favour of the seamers and making it a challenge for batsmen.

The Indian pace attack, that has prided itself in consistent­ly taking 20 wickets overseas, came to the party on Sunday to put India on the cusp of victory.

In the Lord’s Test, India looked particular­ly bad in their innings defeat as England seamers cashed in on a good toss and got to bowl in perfect conditions in both innings. But the Trent Bridge Test has been about India showing rare resilience and their bowlers building on the steel shown by the batsmen.

They found a new hero in Hardik Pandya on Day 2 as India’s seamers claimed all 10 England wickets in the single, extended afternoon session to leave the visitors in a perfect position to push for victory and start a resurgence in the five-match contest.

England were dismissed for 161 runs in just 38.2 overs, Pandya grabbing his first five-wicket innings haul off just six overs (5/28) to pay back for their batting woes at Lord’s.

India had a potentiall­y matchwinni­ng first innings lead of 168 runs, having made 329 before being all out 40 minutes into the rain-shortened morning session. India were 124/2 in the second innings, a lead of 292 runs. KL Rahul (36) and Shikhar Dhawan (44) gave another solid start, adding 60 in 11.2 overs, before falling.

India’s batsmen reaped the benefits of showing greater disci-

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