Cook fails again as England tumble

India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar is in his bowling stride on the second day of the second Test against England at Lord's yesterday. PHoTO: AFP

England captain Alastair Cook suffered yet another failure with the bat as the top order collapsed against India on the second day of the second Test at Lord's on Friday.
Cook was out for 10, caught behind by opposing skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni off Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Fast-medium bowler Kumar also dismissed Australia-born opener Sam Robson and Ian Bell, England's senior batsman, on his way to figures of three for 34 in 17 overs.
At tea, England were 125 for four in reply to India's first innings 295 -- a deficit of 170 runs.
Only Zimbabwe-born Gary Ballance, with an unbeaten 51, had held firm for any length of time.
Moeen Ali was six not out.
Cook's exit meant it was now 26 innings since the left-hander had scored the last of his England record 25 Test hundreds, with his tally for the calendar years standing at meagre 107 runs in eight Test innings.
The 29-year-old Essex batsman's poor run of form has also coincided with an England slump that has seen the team go nine Tests without a victory -- their worst winless streak for more than 20 years.

For most of his 29-ball innings spanning 40 minutes, Cook looked assured.
But, not moving his feet, Cook nicked a good length Kunmar ball outside off stump that swung away through to India captain and wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
And it was not long before 22 for one became 31 for two in front of a capacity, sun-drenched crowd.
Robson, dropped in the slips on seven, squandered his reprieve by driving loosely at a ball wide of off stump, Dhoni making no mistake with the catch
Kumar had now taken two for four in 13 balls.
At lunch, England were 51 for two, with Ballance seven not out and Bell unbeaten on 11.
Bell too has been in something of a run drought, if not as prolonged as that of Cook.
Since the third of his three Ashes centuries at Chester-le-Street last year, Bell had completed only four fifties and no hundreds in 17 Test innings prior to Thursday's knock.
And Bell had made just 16 on Friday when, trying to get out of the way of a short ball from Kumar, gloved a gentle catch to third slip.
Root, fresh his 154 not out in the drawn first Test at Trent Bridge, came in facing yet another salvage mission.
The 23-year-old's last two Tests at Lord's had yielded scores of 180 against Australia last year and 200 not out against Sri Lanka in June.