Tendulkar does it again

In an emphatic statement ahead of the first Test at Lord's, Sachin Tendulkar held the Indians' innings together with a majestic century on the second day of the tour match at Chelmsford. Brushing aside a top-order collapse, Tendulkar's masterful 171 steered the Indians to 336 for 7 at the end of the day, 77 behind the England Lions.

Tendulkar's counter-punch rescued India from a perilous 14 for 3, which was to become 65 for 4 an hour later. Graham Onions had struck a double blow in his first over, the second of the innings, before Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett nailed a wicket apiece. It was only thanks to Tendulkar's 140-run stand with Yuvraj Singh, who lent support with a fighting 59, that the Indians could get past the 200-mark before a 99-run stand with Mahendra Singh Dhoni ensured that the good work didn't go to waste.

Once the Lions had declared their innings closed at 423 for 8, with Tim Bresnan staying undefeated, India's top order came apart. Wasim Jaffer failed for the third successive innings after he continued to be unsure of whether to go forward or back; VVS Laxman spent just four minutes out in the middle before nicking to the wicketkeeper; and Dinesh Karthik was beaten by one that moved away, though he was clearly unhappy with the decision.

Just as the Indian batting line-up looked like it would unravel, Tendulkar plugged the gaps. He appeared to be batting on a far flatter pitch, though he was lucky to survive two tough chances - first on 39, when Ravinder Bopara fumbled at leg gully and then on 53 when Owais Shah let go of a low chance at a conventional gully. The crafting of the innings, however, was reminiscent of some gems from the past and, despite wickets tumbling and the ball jagging around, Tendulkar chose to attack.

He began with a crisp two to midwicket but really announced himself with a dart-straight caress past Onions for four. The meaty punch, which one is accustomed to seeing when Tendulkar is in the groove, was on display, the stance was upright and never did he try to swish across the line. A racy start was followed by a quiet period but that was the most nervy phase of his innings. He was first let off a few moments after Sourav Ganguly's dismissal and India would have struggled to recover from the double blow.

With luck on his side, though, he treated the Saturday crowd to some special strokeplay - shredding Adil Rashid's legbreaks in a sequence that read: four through cover, four through cover, six straight back. The first was a low full toss, the second a good-length ball and the third tossed up but Tendulkar's nimble footwork made them all look ordinary.

The final session, when he went from 99 to 171, was laced with more mastery and a paddle sweep of Bopara's medium-pace underlined his control. He improvised in the third session - making room, angling, dabbing - before finally falling to a tired loft to Shah at long-off who hung on this time, though it was 118 runs too late.

Yuvraj and Dhoni cashed in on the featherbed of a pitch, one that didn't offer too much assistance after the shine had worn off the ball. Yuvraj overcame an iffy start, cracked six fours in his 77-ball stay, and grew in confidence as his innings progressed. However, he couldn't curb his flashes outside off and fell chasing a wide one off Stuart Broad. Dhoni managed some good batting practise, after a double-failure in the opening tour game, peppering cover-drives when the ball was pitched up. Both, though, were only building on the platform that was laid by Tendulkar, announcing his arrival as only he can.

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