England soldier on at Lord's

Jonathan Trott, the pick of the England batsmen on Thursday's rain-shortened day, was the batsman dismissed, departing lbw to Praveen Kumar for 70.

At lunch on a sun-drenched morning in happy contrast to the dismal weather which curtailed play on Thursday after 49.2 overs, England were 217 for three with Kevin Pietersen on 71.

India were hampered by the absence of Zaheer Khan, who was forced off the field on Thursday after taking both of the England wickets which fell on the opening day at the cost of only 18 runs from 13.3 overs.

An Indian team statement on Friday said the left-arm paceman was being treated for a hamstring strain and he might not be able to bowl again in the remainder of the England first innings. He was likely to be fit for the second.

In Zaheer's absence, Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to open with Ishant Sharma from the Pavilion end partnered by Praveen Kumar.

Pietersen, 22 not out after 114 minutes of stern self-denial on Thursday, was quickly under way with an imperious on-drive for four off Sharma. He played a shot of similar authority off Kumar to the long-on boundary while Trott, 58 not out overnight, continued his untroubled progress.

Dhoni switched Kumar to the Pavilion end and the second ball of his new spell thudded into Trott's left pad as the batsman was beaten for pace playing back.

Trott's expression as he slowly left the field indicated he thought the ball might have been angling in enough to beat the stumps but television replays showed Billy Bowden's decision had been correct with the ball just clipping the leg stump.

The Decision Review System for lbws if not being used in this series because of India's reservations about ball-tracking technology.

Pietersen was one short of a 24th test half-century when he flicked a Kumar delivery to Rahul Dravid, who dived forward to gather the ball at leg-gully. Pietersen stood his ground and after television replays proved inconclusive he was reprieved.

He reached his fifty with a single and used his feet to loft Harbhajan Singh for a boundary over mid-off before driving Sharma savagely through the covers for four.

Ian Bell, 28 not out at the interval, played an exquisite square-cut off Harbhajan to the boundary and rocked back to register another four from the spinner as England took control.