Strauss, Vaughan lead England survival bid

NOTTINGHAM, England, July 30 (Reuters) England went into the lunch break on 129 for one as their bid to save the second test against India began solidly on the fourth morning at Trent Bridge today.

Andrew Strauss was 54 not out and captain Michael Vaughan was on 36, having scored his 5,000th test run. England need another 154 runs to avoid an innings defeat.

England's survival chances were dealt an early blow when Alastair Cook fell to the 14th ball of the day, lbw to left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan for 23. Cook has been out lbw in all four of his innings so far this series.

India applied the pressure after the breakthrough and Vaughan's first run came from a single that was edged to and fumbled at third slip. Strauss scored his first run off his 15th delivery of the morning off Zaheer, who was swinging the ball both ways.

The slow scoring emphasised a tentative approach by England's batsmen, who seemed unsure whether to play naturally or purely for survival.

Zaheer launched a verbal barrage at Vaughan after one over, no doubt spurred on by the amount of sledging England aimed towards India's batsmen over the weekend. He had to be persuaded to return to his fielding position by a team mate.

In the next over, bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was warned by umpire Ian Howell for brushing past non-striker Vaughan while walking back to his mark.

Both Zaheer and Sreesanth, though, did not let any gamesmanship upset their bowling rhythm, conceding just nine and 11 runs off their opening six-over spells respectively.

Strauss scored his first boundary of the morning with a pull to fine leg off Rudra Pratap Singh and then followed that with a four through extra cover.

Vaughan also became more composed the longer he stayed at the wicket, driving elegantly down the ground to Saurav Ganguly an over after surviving a vocal appeal for caught behind off Singh.

Anil Kumble was introduced 30 minutes before lunch and almost had a wicket with his first ball when Vaughan survived a close lbw shout.

The first test ended in a draw.

Reuters PDS VV1841