Vaughan leads England resistance in second test

NOTTINGHAM, England, July 30 (Reuters) England captain Michael Vaughan was nearing a 17th test century as he defied India's bid for victory in the second test at Trent Bridge today.

England reached 221 for three at tea on the fourth day and still require a further 62 runs to avoid an innings defeat.

Vaughan, who passed 5,000 test runs in the morning session, was batting at his fluent best on 91 not out after batting for just short of four hours, while Paul Collingwood had 13.

England lost opener Andrew Strauss eight balls after lunch when he played a poorly executed cut shot to a short and wide delivery from Zaheer Khan and was caught behind for 55.

Just as England were recovering from the loss of Strauss an explosive four-ball sequence set up the departure of Kevin Pietersen.

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, already warned by umpire Ian Howell for brushing past Vaughan in the morning, bowled a beamer that caused Pietersen to collapse to the floor to avoid the ball from striking his head on the full.

Although Sreesanth immediately apologised and indicated the illegal delivery was an accident, the batsman reacted angrily.

At the start of the next over, bowled by Rudra Pratap Singh, Pietersen wafted at a wide delivery and survived a caught behind appeal. Next ball he was trapped lbw to an in-swinger to which he played no stroke.

Umpire Simon Taufel made his second correct lbw decision of the day, putting the memory of two controversial decisions yesterday out of his mind.

India last won a test series in England 21 years ago, while England have not lost a home test for 13 months.

The first test ended in a draw.

REUTERS TB HT2057