July 12, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 26, 1428

HOVE (England), July 11: India were denied victory in the opening match of their England tour as county champions Sussex saw their last-wicket pair hold out for a draw on the fourth and final day here on Tuesday.

Sussex, set 273 to win, finished on 190 for nine.

India leg-spinner Anil Kumble took three for 57 but Robin Martin-Jenkins, with 45 not out and last man Jason Lewry, who survived 24 balls while making an unbeaten eight, hung on to avoid defeat.

In all 17 wickets fell on the last day, eight of them belonging to India.

But having been 120 for eight, India saw No 10 Rudra Pratap Singh, primarily a left-arm quick, scores 41 not out.

Singh put on 64 for the ninth wicket with India captain Rahul Dravid, who declared with his side on 184 for eight.

India now play England Lions – the new name for England’s ‘A’ side – in a three-day match at Chelmsford, the home of eastern county Essex, in a three-day match starting on Friday.

The first Test of a three-match series against England is scheduled to begin at Lord's a week on Thursday.

Scoreboard

INDIA (1st Innings) 388-7 declared (V.V.S. Laxman 95, G. Gambhir 81, K.D. Karthik 76, R. Dravid 57 retired hurt).

SUSSEX (1st Innings):

C.D. Nash c Karthik b Bose 28

R.R. Montgomerie c Karthik b Sreesanth 18

M.H. Yardy c Laxman b Kumble 53

C.D. Hopkinson lbw b R.P. Singh 5

M.A. Thornely b Kumble 2

A.J. Hodd not out 106

R.S.C. Martin-Jenkins st Dhoni b Kumble 42

O.P. Rayner not out 19

EXTRAS (B-7, LB-7, W-9, NB-4) 27

TOTAL (for six decl, 85.1 overs) 300

FALL OF WKTS: 1-30, 2-66, 3-75, 4-105, 5-144, 6-269.

DID NOT BAT: Saqlain Mushtaq, R.J. Kirtley, J.D. Lewry.

BOWLING: R.P. Singh 18-4-66-1 (3w); Sreesanth 20.1-7-52-1 (1w); Bose 18-4-60-1 (1w); Kumble 22-3-66-3 (3nb); Yuvraj Singh 7-0-42-0.

INDIA (2nd Innings):

K.D. Karthik lbw b Martin-Jenkins 33

Wasim Jaffer lbw b Lewry 4

M.S. Dhoni c Nash b Lewry 11

Yuvraj Singh c Hodd b Kirtley 18

G. Gambhir c Hopkinson b Martin-Jenkins 7

V.V.S. Laxman c Hodd b Saqlain 16

R. Dravid not out 30

A. Kumble c Thornely b Yardy 13

S. Sreesanth c Thornely b Yardy 0

R.P. Singh not out 41

EXTRAS (B-6, LB-5) 11

TOTAL (for eight decl, 51 overs) 184

FALL OF WKTS: 1-5, 2-19, 3-62, 4-76, 5-81, 6-104, 7-120, 8-120.

BOWLING: Lewry 8-1-31-2; Kirtley 12-4-31-1; Martin-Jenkins 7-3-13-2; Hopkinson 4-0-20-0; Saqlain Mushtaq 4-1-10-1; Rayner 9-2-36-0; Yardy 7-0-32-2.

SUSSEX (2nd Innings):

C.D. Nash c sub b Sreesanth 0

R.R. Montgomerie lbw b Kumble 59

M.H. Yardy c Karthik b R.P. Singh 5

C.D. Hopkinson c Gambhir b Bose 6

M.A. Thornely b Kumble 11

A.J. Hodd run out 4

R.S.C. Martin-Jenkins not out 45

O.P. Rayner b R.P. Singh 3

Saqlain Mushtaq c Laxman b Sreesanth 9

R.J. Kirtley lbw b Kumble 8

J.D. Lewry not out 8

EXTRAS (B-10, LB-9, W-3, NB-10) 32

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 55 overs) 190

FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-18, 3-46, 4-96, 5-106, 6-120, 7-123, 8-152, 9-173.

BOWLING: Sreesanth 14-3-47-2 (2nb, 1w); R.P. Singh 11-4-28-2; Bose 8-2-26-1 (1w); Kumble 20-4-57-3 (5nb); Yuvraj Singh 1-0-5-0; Gambhir 1-0-8-0 (3nb).

RESULT: Match drawn.

UMPIRES: G.I. Burgess and K. Coburn.—Agencies