Nov 17 : England's bowlers, led by Stuart Broad, recovered from the mauling they received at Rajkot and took the first step towards turning around their fortunes in India by restricting a powerful batting order at the start of the innings. England were decidedly on top, having reduced India to 29 for 3, but India regained lost ground despite the difficult batting conditions through a brisk partnership of 101 between Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni had said after winning the toss that it was difficult to predict a good total on this pitch but added that it was definitely not a 380-400 surface. He was right because this pitch, unlike the batting paradise in Rajkot, had variable bounce and was two-paced. Several deliveries reached Matt Prior on the second bounce, while others surprised batsmen with sudden lift. Driving and hitting through the line - a feature of several innings in Rajkot - was incredibly hard, for the speed at which ball came on to bat was slower than the batsmen expected.