MURALI Vijay made 146 before succumbing to a determined seam attack as India crawled to 342 for five on the second day of the opening Test against England at Trent Bridge on Thursday (July 10).
The visitors took lunch with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on 81 joined by Ravindra Jadeja (24 not out) as India continued to build a slow but steady first innings in the first of the five-match series.
Vijay was in search of his third Test 150 but fell to a marginal lbw decision off James Anderson.
Replays showed the ball was bouncing over the stumps but with the series being played without the aid of the decision review system – India refused to use it – the wicket could not be challenged.
It ended a 126-run fifth-wicket stand on a flat and slow Nottingham pitch where opportunities were few and far between for the hosts' bowlers.
The morning session – with the tourists resuming on 259-4 – nearly started positively for England when Dhoni edged Stuart Broad in the third over of the day, but wicketkeeper Matt Prior failed to hang on to the chance from the Indian captain as he dived to his right.
Prior, who had been a doubt to start the Test because of a thigh problem, took a similar catch on the first morning but his failure this time proved costly as Dhoni found his rhythm.
The visitors have not played a five-Test series on English soil since 1959, and their previous visit, in 2011, resulted in a 4-0 whitewash by the hosts.
