England v India, 4th Test: Lunch Report - England pacers rattle India's top-order

James Anderson

Manchester, Aug 7 (IANS) England pacers made the best use of the overcast conditions at Old Trafford on Thursday to rattle the Indian top-order leaving the visitors struggling at 63 for five in their first innings at lunch on the first day of the fourth cricket Test here.

For the first time in the series, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the leading scorer in an innings with 25 runs, while Ajinkya Rahane (24) was the last batsman to fall before the lunch break.

Pacers James Anderson and Stuart Broad struck in tandem as India slumped from 0-8 to 4-8. Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli failed to open their account, while comeback man Gautam Gambhir managed only four.

Gambhir, who was playing his first Test in nearly 20 months, was the first to go after he fended a rising delivery from Broad and was caught by Joe Root at gully.

Vijay survived 14 balls before edging Anderson to England captain Alastair Cook at first slip. Two balls later, Anderson snared up Kohli, who also edged to Cook.

Rahane and Dhoni added 54 runs for the fifth wicket, but pacer Chris Jordan struck in the second last over before lunch to remove Rahane, who found Ian Bell at second slip.