Cook falls as India made England struggle

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England lost in-form opener Alastair Cook as they were made to work hard by India on the first morning of the first Test at Lord's here on Thursday.

England, at lunch, were 43 for one off 21 overs with captain Andrew Strauss 20 not out and Jonathan Trott unbeaten on nine in what was the 2,000th Test ever played and the 100th between England and India.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose side are top of the ICC's Test Championship table, won the toss and elected to field under overcast skies.

His new ball duo of left-armer Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar did not waste the conditions, both bowlers quickly settling into a probing line.

Runs were tough to come by for England's left-handed opening pair of Strauss and Cook, both beaten on the outside edge.

In what was a landmark match, although purists remain angry with the International Cricket Council's decision to award Test status to a match between Australia and a World XI in Sydney in 2005, there was something almost appropriately old-fashioned about such a start.

Strauss would have been run out, backing-up, for three if Ishant Sharma's throw from mid-on had hit the stumps.

But England had made just 19 off 11 overs when Ashes hero Cook was lbw for 12 to Zaheer, playing back and looking to defend to mid-on when the ball beat his defensive shot.

As, thanks to Indian objections, lbw decisions cannot be reviewed in this series, Cook was unable to challenge Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf's decision but replays suggested the ball would have hit the top of middle and leg.

It was the first time in seven Test innings Cook had failed to make a fifty.

Zaheer, at the fall of the wicket, had miserly figures of one for eight in six overs on a morning of what traditionalists might have called 'proper' Test cricket rather than the fast-scoring game of recent years.

It took Strauss 48 balls to score his first boundary, cutting first-change Ishant Sharma over the slips when the fast bowler dropped short and wide.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh then saw his first ball edged by Trott, on eight, just short of Rahul Dravid at slip.

If England win this four-match series by two Tests they will displace India at the top of the Test standings.