December 4, 2001	Tuesday	Ramazan 18, 1422

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MOHALI (India), Dec 3: India’s Harbhajan Singh grabbed five wickets as England lost their last six batsmen for 14 to collapse to 238 all out on the opening day of the first Test Monday.

The off-spinner, who has blossomed since playing a key role in the home series win over Australia earlier this year, was back at his lethal best with a final spell of five for six as England frittered away a good start.

India, in reply, were 24 for one at the close, having lost opener Shiv Sundar Das for two when he was bowled by occasional medium-pacer Mark Butcher.

England had been coasting on 172 for two, with captain Nasser Hussain hammering 13 fours and a six in his 85 and opener Marcus Trescothick scoring 66 including 13 boundaries.

But wickets started to tumble once their 125-run second-wicket stand was broken by debutant paceman Tinu Yohannan, who sent Trescothick’s off-stump cartwheeling when the left-hander did not offer a shot to a ball that nipped back.

He could have also had Graham Thorpe first ball, rapping him on the pads right in front of the wicket only for a no-ball to be called.

Thorpe finally fell for 23, edging a widish delivery from debutant paceman Iqbal Siddiqui to Laxman in the slip cordon.

England were still looking good at 224 for four, when Harbhajan struck.

He removed Mark Ramprakash for 17, inducing an edge with a ball which drifted away after pitching and ended in Shiv Sundar Das’s hands tumbling at silly point.

Singh then had a charging Andrew Flintoff (18) miscue at attempted drive to backward point, where Kumble held on to a simple chance.

Bowling close to the wicket and getting the ball to loop ominously, Singh had James Foster play over a drifter to be trapped lbw for a duck in his debut Test.

Kumble chipped in as Craig White (5) edged the leg-spinner straight to Rahul Dravid at slip to reduce England to 229 for eight.

The close cordon had work to do again soon after when Harbhajan deceived Richard Dawson in the flight, Laxman completing his fourth catch at silly point. Matthew Hoggard came and went next ball.

Harbhajan, meanwhile, who took 32 wickets in three Tests against Australia, took his year’s tally 52, becoming only the fifth Indian bowler to complete 50 wickets in a calendar year.

The match, the first of a three-Test series, finally got underway after being threatened first by the Afghanistan crisis, then by a row between the International Cricket Council and India over a series of bans handed out to Indian players.

India skipper Saurav Ganguly’s decision to bowl first had been justified early by paceman Yohannan when left-hander Mark Butcher (4) edged a short delivery to second slip, where Laxman grabbed a chest-high catch.

But none of the other seamers capitalised on friendly morning conditions. The lanky 22-year-old Yohannan is only the eighth Indian to take a wicket in his first Test over.

Hussain, who brought up his fifty pulling Yohannan to the mid-wicket fence for his 10th four, was in fine form.

He cut Yohannan and Siddiqui for fours through point but got a life at 74 when he edged Harbhajan to wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta who dropped a catch to his right.

He then hammered Harbhajan for a big six over long-off before cutting him to the point fence.

Hussain, playing his first Test in the country of his birth, was finally caught at silly point by Laxman when Kumble beat him in the air with a quicker delivery.