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India’s miserable tour to England in 2011 kicked off with a defeat against the hosts at the Lord’s in London on July 25. Rahul Dravid’s magnificent maiden century at the Lord went in vain as Kevin Pietersen’s unbeaten 202 helped England clinch the first Test against India. The Lord’s had a history of being a difficult venue for India in the longest format of the game. India, despite their best efforts, had to face another loss at the iconic venue in London, allowing England to win 196 runs in the 2000th Test in international cricket, taking a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
Rahul Dravid, who was the backbone of Indian cricket team during that time, brought up his maiden Test century at the home of cricket. Dravid marked his name into the history books with a sensational knock of 103 not out after 15 years of appearances at Lord's. He had not been able to reach the three-figure mark at the coveted stadium in many attempts after getting dismissed in his debut Test against England by just five runs in 1996.
However, Kevin Pietersen turned out to be the player of the match with his double century, following which England decided to declare their innings at 474/8. This was Kevin Pieterson’s first double century at Lord’s and his third throughout his Test career.
The 2000th Test match came to a conclusion in England’s favour
In the first innings, apart from Kevin Pietersen's 202*, other players like Matt Prior with 71 runs and Jonathan Trott with 70 runs also made key contribution after Zaheer Khan's unfortunate, which led them to their desired target. However, India failed to get anywhere close to them and were bowled out for 286 runs in their first innings. England’s Stuart Broad (4 wickets) and Chris Temlett (3 wickets) were the ones behind the destruction of the batting lineup of the Indian cricket team despite Rahul Dravid's 103.
In the second innings, England again stepped up with their batting as Matt Prior (103*) and Stuart Broad (74*) runs, allowed them to declare their innings at 269/6, setting a massive target of 458 runs for the Indian cricket team. But, India just couldn't find their knick as they were bowled out for 261 runs with Suresh Raina (78) and VVS Laxman (56) being the only glimmer of hope for India as their top order was crumbled once again by England.
England also went on to win the remaining three Tests convincingly, demolishing India in the Test series by 4-0 in 2011.
