Manchester, Aug 7 (IANS) England pacers made the best use of the overcast conditions at Old Trafford Thursday to rattle the Indian top-order leaving the visitors struggling at 63 for five in their first innings at lunch on the first day of the fourth cricket Test here.

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For the first time in the series, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the leading scorer in an innings with 25 runs while Ajinkya Rahane (24) was the last batsman to fall before the lunch break.

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Pacers James Anderson and Stuart Broad struck in tandem as India slumped from 0-8 to 4-8. Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli failed to open their account while comeback man Gautam Gambhir managed only four.

Gambhir, who was playing his first Test in nearly 20 months, was the first to go after he fended a rising delivery from Broad and was caught by Joe Root at gully. 

Vijay survived 14 balls before edging Anderson to England captain Alastair Cook at first slip. Two balls later, Anderson snared up Kohli, who also edged to Cook.

Rahane and Dhoni added 54 runs for the fifth wicket but pacer Chris Jordan struck in the second last over before lunch to remove Rahane, who found Ian Bell at second slip.

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Saurabh Sharma
Saurabh Sharma is the Editorial Head of Cricketnmore Hindi and a passionate cricket journalist with over 14 years of experience in sports media. He began his journalism career with Navbharat Times, part of the Times of India Group, before moving to television media with Sadhna News. In 2014, he joined Cricketnmore and currently serves as the editor of the platform.
Known for his deep understanding of cricket statistics and unique storytelling approach, Saurabh specializes in cricket news, match analysis, records, and feature stories. Along with editorial responsibilities, he also works as a show producer for popular cricket video series such as Cricket Tales, Cricket Flashback, and Cricket Trivia. Read More
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