Gambhir scores 31 on county debut for Essex

Out of favour opener Gautam Gambhir scored 31 for Essex against Northamptionshire on his county debut in London.

The left-hander faced 67 balls and hit five boundaries before being beaten for pace by right-arm pacer Steven Crook after sharing a 44-run second wicket stand with Greg Smith at the Castle Park Cricket ground at Colchester.

Essex are batting second in this four-day Division II county game after Northamptonshire scored 531 in their first innings after David Sales scored 131 and Stephen Peters scored 101.

Interestingly, all the five boundaries that Gambhir hit came off Pakistan born paceman Mohammed Azharulla's bowling.

Gambhir started with hitting back to back boundaries in two separate overs from Azharulla. He repeatedly peppered the off-side cordon but after tea, he suddenly became subdued.

He wasn't able to get the ball off square and when Crook came in, in his bid to score quickly was bowled by the pacer.

Earlier, while fielding, Gambhir took a couple of catches.

Image: Gautam Gambhir

Photograph: Scott Heavey/Getty Images