England lead by 21 runs at lunch

Nagpur, Dec 16 (IANS) England lead India by 21 runs at lunch after the hosts declared at 326/9 on the fourth day of the fourth and final cricket Test match here at the VCA Stadium Sunday.

England openers Alastair Cook and Nick Compton were batting at 1 and 14, respectively, when lunch was called with the score reading 17/0 in their second innings.

Resuming the day at 297/8, India put on another 29 runs in the first hour of the morning session before skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni called in Ravichandran Ashwin (29 not out) and Ishant Sharma (2 not out) to the pavilion, giving England a lead of a mere four runs.

Pragyan Ojha (3) was the only wicket to fall Sunday morning when he was clean bowled by left-arm spinner Monty Panesar, who picked up his first wicket of the match after bowling 50 overs.

Virat Kohli (103) and Dhoni (99) took India out of a critical position Saturday to bring the hosts at par with England.

England pacer James Anderson picked up four wickets while off-spinner Graeme Swann clinched three.

England batted 13 overs in their second innings where Cook and Compton looked solid at the crease against the Indian bowlers.

IANS 2012-12-16 12:12:07