India five down against England after stunning slump

MANCHESTER: India lost five wickets before lunch after suffering a dramatic top-order collapse on the first day of the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford on Thursday.

At lunch the tourists were 63 for five, with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni -- who won the toss -- 25 not out and Ravindra Jadeja yet to score.

England new ball duo James Anderson (two for 21 in nine overs) and Stuart Broad (two for eight in six) reduced India to eight for four inside the first six overs of the match.

Ajinkya Rahane and Dhoni then put on 55 for the fifth wicket.But Rahane, shortly before lunch, was out for 24 when he edged fourth seamer Chris Jordan to second slip Ian Bell. Rahane and Dhoni were the only batsmen to have so far made it into double figures this innings, with three of India´s top four out for ducks.

Anderson and Broad exploited the overcast, swing-friendly conditions to impressive effect, with the pitch -- one of the quickest in England -- offering plenty of pace and bounce. All of India´s first four wickets fell with their score on eight, a quartet of batsmen dismissed in the space of 13 balls.

Gautam Gambhir, recalled in place of the dropped Shikhar Dhawan, was first to go. The left-handed opener had made four when he was undone by a rising Broad delivery in the fourth over that he nicked straight to Joe Root in the gully.

On the field, Anderson initially struggled to control the lavish swing he generated at his Lancashire home ground. But the 32-year-old, who started this match just 12 wickets shy of Ian Botham´s England record of 383 Test wickets, found his line and length in the fifth over. He took two wickets for no runs in three balls as both opener Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli fell for ducks after edging to England captain Alastair Cook -- who on Wednesday labelled Anderson as the best English bowler he had seen -- at first slip.

Cheteshwar Pujara also exited for nought when, in the sixth over, he got an outside edge off Broad and Jordan, diving to his right, held a fine catch at third slip.However, Rahane stopped the rot by driving Broad stylishly through mid-off for four.

Dhoni then edged Anderson between slips and gully for another four before driving him more convincingly through mid-off.As the sun broke through, Dhoni steered a four to third man off Anderson to see India surpass their all-time lowest Test innings total of 42 against England at Lord´s in 1974. (AFP)