India make steady start in third Test

A steady start was slightly undone by the loss of a couple of quick wickets as India reached 90 for two in their first innings at lunch on the first day of the third cricket Test against England here on Wednesday. After the first session, Gambhir was unbeaten on 50 (91 balls) and giving him company was the under—fire Sachin Tendulkar (1). Electing to bat, India raced to 47 in the 11th over with Virender Sehwag (23) and Gambhir giving a fine start to the home side on a flat wicket. But Sehwag’s fine innings was cut short when Gambhir ran the former out with a poor call. There was little help for the bowlers from the pitch as the ball stayed on driving height. It was no surprise that Cook introduced spin in the eighth over of the innings when left—arm tweaker Monty Panesar replaced Steven Finn, who conceded 16 runs from his three—over first spell. The tall Finn made a comeback in the side after recovering from a thigh injury that had forced him out of the first two Tests. England made one more change in the batting line—up with Ian Bell replacing Jonny Bairstow. Earlier, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat against England in the third cricket Test at the Eden Gardens here on Wednesday. For India, Pacer Ishant Sharma made a comeback into the side after more than 10 months replacing off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who is recovering from a bout of flu. England made two changes to their line-up with batsman Ian Bell and fast bowler Steven Finn replacing Jonny Bairstow and Stuart Board. After losing the first Test in Ahmedabad, England bounced back to level the four-match series 1-1 with a 10-wicket win in Mumbai. Teams: India: Mahendra Dhoni (capt, wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. England: Alastair Cook (capt), Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Samit Patel, Matt Prior (wk), Graeme Swann, Monty Panesar, James Anderson and Steven Finn. Source : The Hindu