England need nine wickets to beat India at Lord's
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England required nine further wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series against world number one side India at the close of the penultimate day of the first test at Lord's on Sunday.
After wicketkeeper Matt Prior had completed his sixth test century India, set 458 to win, were 80 for one with a maximum 98 overs to be bowled on Monday's final day.
Prior (103 not out) and Stuart Broad (74 not out) added 162 for the seventh wicket before Andrew Strauss declared his team's innings closed for the second time in the match on 269 for six.
The highest total to win at Lord's remains the 344 for one scored by West Indies in 1984 while the biggest winning total anywhere is West Indies 418 for seven against Australia in 2003.
England, who have won four of their last 10 series at Lord's with six draws, can take over from India at the top of the world rankings if they win the series by at least a two-test margin.
"I think we are probably just ahead," Prior told a news conference. "That's a huge amount of runs to get when the ball gets a bit older."
India opened with first innings centurion Rahul Dravid in place of Gautam Gambhir, who left the field after he was hit painfully on the left arm at short-leg after a full-blooded sweep from Prior.
An X-ray showed there was no fracture and he is expected to be fit to bat on Monday. Paceman Zaheer Khan, who left the field with a strained hamstring on Thursday's opening day, was again absent.
To add to their woes, Sachin Tendulkar, still one short of his 100th international century, has to wait until 258 minutes of the Indian innings has elapsed or the fifth wicket has fallen before he can bat as he was absent from the field for most of the day because of a virus infection. He still has to wait for around two hours 20 minutes on Monday.
Prior, who scored 71 in the first innings, demonstrated his value again at number seven.
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