On This Day In 2011: Pietersen's Double Century Leads England In 100th Test Vs India
India's 2011 England tour began with the 100th Test at Lord's — a match that saw Zaheer Khan's injury, KP's double ton, Dravid's hundred, and the start of a painful 4-0 whitewash.
On This Day In 2011: Historic and traumatic, the Lord's Test of India's 2011 tour of England started on this day. Ranked No.1 in the world then, the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Indian side embarked upon their toughest challenge to date, taking on Andrew Strauss' rising English brigade at the Home of Cricket for what was a special encounter.
It wasn't just the start of the Pataudi Trophy but also the 100th Test between the two great rivals and overall, the 200th Test played in the game's history.
The momentous occasion was backed by a huge turnout at Lord's, while TV and streaming viewership soared to incredible heights. With the world anticipating a gripping contest to start a long summer of exciting tussle between India and England, the visitors were left deeply embarrassed by an opposition that prepared for the marquee series twice as well.
Reeling from fatigue and injuries amidst a quick turnaround from the IPL, India were already missing their instrumental opener Virender Sehwag for the series opener. In Sehwag's absence, Dhoni stood a little extra wary of a surface that carried a tinge of grass on it and decided to bowl first upon winning the toss.
What followed would be recalled as the start of that Indian team's downward spiral, as Dhoni lost the leader of his attack, Zaheer Khan, to the most untimely hamstring injury in the second session of play only. Zaheer walked off clutching his hamstring and so did India's hopes of taking 20 wickets.
England compiled a massive 474/8 declared, led by the amazing Kevin Pietersen's unbeaten double century (202). Swing bowler Praveen Kumar's 5 for 106 was India's only positive.
#OnThisDay in 2011, the 2000th Test in cricket history came to a conclusion in England's favour.Kevin Pietersen smashed a spectacular 202* in the first innings at Lord's to give the hosts a thumping 196-run win over India 🔥 pic.twitter.com/vWU13av7io
— ICC (@ICC) July 25, 2020
While India's bowling was always their weaker suit, the batting line-up of ageing greats also faltered miserably.
Even as the great Rahul Dravid produced an emotional Lord's hundred (103) to tick off the box he missed on his debut in 1996, India were dismissed for 286, with no other batter, not even the legendary Sachin Tendulkar (34), providing Dravid support for significant length of time.
With their backs against the wall, India needed an inspiring turnaround to come out unscathed and save a draw. Ishant Sharma's 4 for 59 in the third-innings raised the tourists' hopes, but wicketkeeper-batter Matt Prior's magnificent 103 not out once again shut the door on Dhoni's team.
England declared again on 269/6, setting India a target of 458 and the best part of five sessions to play through to safety.
Then, in a snapshot of what was to follow for the rest of the summer, infamous for India's abject surrender and the ignominious 4-0 drubbing,
England ace James Anderson came up with a masterclass of late swing and ran through that great Indian batting line-up along with his longstanding ally, Stuart Broad.
Anderson took 5 for 65 and Broad 3 for 57, as the two exceptional seam bowlers accelerated the Indian downfall for just 261. VVS Laxman got a fighting 56 before young Suresh Raina waged the battle with his courageous 78.
But it was never going to be enough. India eventually suffered a painstaking loss of 196 to kickstart a procession of defeats that spanned across Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and The Oval in perhaps their worst ever series loss on foreign soil.
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First Published:
July 25, 2025, 07:25 IST
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