July 25, 2007	Wednesday	Rajab 09, 1428

LONDON, July 24: England captain Michael Vaughan was in confident mood after seeing his side denied victory in the first Test against India here at Lord’s by the slimmest of margins.

And he said England could take heart from a similar situation during their ultimately successful Ashes-winning campaign against Australia two years when, having been deprived of a win at Old Trafford, they went on to enjoy a victory at Trent Bridge, where the second Test against India starts on Friday.

England needed just one more wicket at Lord’s when bad light and subsequent rain halted play on the last day with India, at 282-9, on the brink of going 1-0 down in the three-match series.

“There were no complaints from me,” Vaughan told reporters. “If I had been on the batting side I would have wanted to go off because it was pretty dark.”

“There was a lot of talk before the match about the fact we were going in with a young team,” said Vaughan, whose colleague Kevin Pietersen was named man-of-the-match for a second innings 134 which left India with a tough target of 380 for victory.

“We played very positively, a really good game, unfortunately we just couldn’t get that last wicket,” Vaughan stated.

“We batted well and I thought our young bowlers bowled extremely well. We put a really experienced Indian line-up under a lot of pressure. It is probably the best we’ve bowled since 2005, the four of them produced performances which they all can be very proud of.”

Vaughan dismissed suggestions England might be down after this result by pointing to how the 2005 team overcame the disappointment of seeing Australia, who’d lost nine wickets, cling on for a draw at Old Trafford to win the subsequent Trent Bridge Test and so go 2-1 up in the series.

“We went to Trent Bridge and produced a really good performance there. Like then we have to get ahead of the opposition early when we start again.”

Meanwhile, India captain Rahul Dravid said: “There was a sense of relief in the dressing room. You can never have the same feeling as winning the Test match but it will give us confidence going into the second Test level.’’—AFP