Alistair Cook and Monty Panesar made international debuts in this Test for England, as well as a Test debut for ODI veteran Ian Blackwell. On the Indian team Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was the only debutant. England won the toss and batted first, and scored at a decent enough rate on the first day, but also lost regular wickets in the process to end the day on 246/7. Alastair Cook made a promising debut scoring 60, and Paul Collingwood was 53 not out by the close of play. On day 2, England’s lower order batsman assisted Collingwood to reach his maiden test century and frustrate India who would have hoped to bowl England out promptly. England eventually reached a score of 393, with Collingwood unbeaten on 134 not out. India lost Virender Sehwag early in their reply, but then Wasim Jaffer and Rahul Dravid batted out the day without further loss to take the hosts to 136/1 by the end of day 2. The match was very nicely balanced. On day 3, England’s seam bowlers, in particular Matthew Hoggard, produced an inspired performance to engineer a middle order collapse. India slumped from 140/1 to 190/7 just after the lunch break. Hoggard took 5 wickets, and Monty Panesar dismissed Sachin Tendulkar to claim his maiden test wicket amid dramatic scenes. However, Mohammad Kaif and Anil Kumble fought back for India, putting on 128 for the eighth wicket. The day ended with Kaif being clean bowled by Panesar with a spectacular delivery that span out of the rough and just clipped the off stump. England wrapped up India’s first innings very early on day 4 for 323, and began their second innings in a positive way. Alastair Cook scored a century on debut, and Kevin Pietersen scored an aggressive 87, despite a caught and bowled appeal being turned down by the third umpire early in his innings. This incident distracted the Indians who dropped 3 further catches during the day. England closed the day with a lead of 367 runs, and Cook was unbeaten on 104. Andrew Flintoff declared overnight to set India a target of 368 to win. India again lost Sehwag early, but Dravid and Jaffer again formed a solid partnership that England were unable to break for two sessions. Scoring was very slow, and it looked like the match was heading for an uneventful draw. Jaffer reached 100 shortly after tea