Rain rescues India at Lord's

The lovely English summer came to India's rescue just in the nick of time on Monday as the first Test against England was abandoned as a draw. India were hanging on by the skin of their teeth and it will be interesting to see how the two sides regroup for the second Test, which begins at Trent Bridge on Friday.

Bet365 have chalked up some early prices for the second Test, with the draw the surprising favourite at 9/10 (1.90), England 7/4 and India 4/1.

When the match was called off, at 6.20pm, India were 282-9, 98 runs short of an unlikely victory, but with England so close to the win they perhaps deserved.

Mahendra Dhoni's unbeaten 76 was crucial for the visitors however and they will be lifted by avoiding defeat, even if their batsmen need to pull their finger out at Trent Bridge.

England, by contrast, played pretty well for much of the time and will think themselves unlucky not to have finished the job, but they too need to occupy the crease for longer if they are to keep the talented India line-up at bay.

England have won three of the past five Tests at Trent Bridge - a venue where 21 of the 52 Tests have ended as a draw.