Clear skies leave England in a strong position to dominate day two

A packed Lord’s crowd witnessed a dogged display by England yesterday but those who flood to the home of cricket today will be hoping to see England up the ante.

The draw remains the favoured result at 4/11 but should England push on today and post a solid total, they can put India on the back foot.

At 127-2 Andrew Strauss and his team find themselves with strong foundations in which to launch a batting attack.

Jonathan Trott continues to relentlessly pursue runs and the 10/11 for the South African-born batsman to reach his century is looking like a strong bet.

But the man that can hold the key to England winning this Test match is Kevin Pietersen and after a slow start yesterday, Pietersen will be raring to get in amongst the runs today.

With a strike rate of just 30.13 thanks to 22 runs from 73 balls, it was hardly a classic Pietersen innings we witnessed yesterday, but then he was playing back up to Trott.

This morning both batsman head to the crease looking to make a fresh start and were likely to see the roles reversed with Trott steadying as he chases a century, allowing Pietersen to play the attacking expansive role.

Should Pietersen be successful in taking the attack to the Indian bowlers, who will be without Zaheer Khan, England should be in a strong position come the end of the day and there may be more than a few canny punters tempted to take England and 5/2.

A man down, India will battle for the draw in this Test but Strauss will be confident in his bowling attack and while the draw remains the likely outcome, a strong performance from England today can swing it in their favour.