Stuart Broad tormented India again with a stunning counter attack as England recovered from a precarious position to post 221 in their first innings on an overcast opening day of the second Test in Nottingham.

- Scorecard Match Report

Put in to bat, the hosts were gasping at 124 for eight before Broad (64 off 66) used his long handle to great effect to guide England to a respectable total on the Trent Bridge wicket, which assisted the fast bowlers throughout the day.

Broad found an ably ally in Graeme Swann (28), as the duo put up a face-saving 70-ball 73-run ninth-wicket partnership to neutralise India's splendid bowling to some extent.

In reply, India lost opener Abhinav Mukund to the very first ball, of James Anderson, but the experienced duo of Rahul Dravid (7 not out) and VVS Laxman (13 not out) steadied the ship to take the visitors to 24 for one at close.

Dhoni's gamble to field first seemed to pay off, as the pace trio of Praveen Kumar (3/45), Ishant Sharma (3/66) and S Sreesanth (3/77) produced a splendid exhibition of seam bowling to rip through the English batting line-up.

The Indian pacers were right on their money from the word go, claiming two English wickets -- opener Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott -- early, with just 23 runs on the board.

While Cook was caught plumb in front of the wicket by Ishant, Sreesanth induced an edge from Trott, which Laxman gleefully accepted in second slip.

Then came brief period of resistance from captain Andrew Strauss (32) and last match double centurion Kevin Pietersen (29) as they added 50 runs for the third wicket before Sreesanth dismissed the latter with a gem of a delivery.

The Indian pacers made best use of the overcast conditions and seaming track in the afternoon session, grabbing as many as six wickets, with England adding only 55 runs in 24 overs.

The trio of Praveen, Ishant and Sreesanth proved lethal in the second session, as each got two wickets apiece.

In the second session, Sreesanth accounted for Pietersen (29) and wicketkeeper Matt Prior (1), while Praveen got rid of England skipper Strauss (32) and Eoin Morgan (0) in the space of four deliveries.

Ishant dismissed Tim Bresnan (11) in the second hour and later removed the stodgy Ian Bell (31).

England, reeling under this onslaught, could add only 19 runs to their lunch time score of four while losing the four wickets in the first hour of the second session.

Pietersen, who failed to cover the away movement of Sreesanth, edged one to Suresh Raina at third slip.

Praveen then had a twin-strike, when Strauss (32) lost his patience and flashed at an away-going delivery and was caught by Raina again at third slip.

Praveen got his second victim three deliveries later when he trapped Morgan (0) with a delivery that didn't do enough and hit the batsman on his pads. Although Morgan was unhappy, Hawke-eye showed that the delivery would have hit top of off-stump.

India could have had another scalp at 98 for six had Rahul Dravid at first slip clung on to a chance offered by Ian Bell on 22 off the indefatigable Praveen.

Dravid made up for this lost chance when he held on to a low catch offered by Tim Bresnan (11), this time off an Ishant delivery. England were now 117 for seven and in dire straits.

Bell (31), all this while, had shown impeccable judgement, leaving the deliveries in corridor of uncertainty.

However, running out of partners, there was a lapse in concentration from him as he chased an innocuous delivery and edged it to Dhoni, with the scoreboard reading 124 for eight.

With wickets tumbling from the other end, Broad then decided to use his arms and unleashed an array of stokeplay.

In Swann, Broad found an able partner who was determined to stay at the crease with him. The duo stitched a vial 73-run ninth-wicket stand that took England past the 200-run mark, which, at one stage, looked impossible.

But just when it seemed the duo was finding it literally easy at the crease, Swann got a snorter from Praveen in the 62nd over that took off from good length and hit his gloves and popped up for an easy catch for Abhinav Mukund at gully.

Harbhajan Singh (1/22) then wrapped up the English innings with the wicket of Broad, caught by Tendulkar at deep, as the batsman went for a huge hit.