England's Stuart Broad (R) and Alastair Cook (L) celebrate with teammate Ian Bell after the dismissal of India's Ishant Sharma at Lord's cricket ground in London Monday. — Reuters LONDON – England captain Andrew Strauss said his side had come close to producing the perfect bowling performance to take 20 India wickets during a crushing 196-run in the first Test here at Lord's. However, Strauss warned England not to let its standards drop with the second Test of this four-match series starting at Trent Bridge Friday. Stuart Broad, reverting to a fuller length, led the way early on with 4-37 as India was bowled out for 286 in reply to England's first innings 474-8 declared. And on Monday it was the turn of fellow seamer James Anderson to take center stage, with the Ashes star returning figures of 5-65 as India, chasing what would have been a Test record fourth innings victory total of 458, was dismissed for 261. Apart from the excellent show by the bowlers, Man of the Match Kevin Pietersen laid the platform for England's victory with his first innings 202 not out. India may have been missing injured opener Virender Sehwag, out with a shoulder injury, at Lord's but it still boasted a strong batting order including Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Venkatsai Laxman. But not even the celebrated trio could get India to a total of 300 in either innings, with first Broad and then Anderson denying Tendulkar, still stuck on 99 international hundreds, a maiden Test century at the ground. “It was an outstanding bowling performance by the whole attack over five days,” said Strauss. “You do have to work hard for your wickets here and I think it showed the value of persistent lines and lengths. That's the only way of taking wickets here and I think we did that brilliantly,” added Strauss who has spent all his professional career with Lord's-based county side Middlesex. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said illness played a key role in Tendulkar's poor returns at Lord's. He was struck down by a viral infection which forced him to spend most of Sunday's fourth day off the field and that meant he had to bat out of position in India's second innings. Tendulkar's exit, in what could be his last Test at Lord's, left him with a modest record at the ground of 195 runs in nine innings, spanning five Tests, at an average of 21.66 with a best of 37 made four years ago. Both Australia's Ricky Ponting and now retired West Indies star Brian Lara, the other two great batsmen of the last 20 years, have also failed to make a Test century at Lord's.
