Zaheer Khan double strike leaves Pakistan in trouble

By N.Ananthanarayanan

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India fast bowler Zaheer Khan grabbed two early wickets to reduce Pakistan to 74 for three at lunch on day one of the first test on Thursday.

Left-armer Khan dismissed in-form batsmen Salman Butt, for one run, and Younis Khan, for seven, in a sharp opening spell before skipper Anil Kumble removed the other opener Yasir Hameed for 29 to complete the early domination by the home team.

The experienced Mohammad Yousuf was 27 not out at lunch with Misbah-ul Haq on three.

Indian new ball bowlers Khan and Munaf Patel found early seam movement on a winter morning on a Ferozshah Kotla pitch of low bounce after Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik won the toss and chose to bat.

Butt, in splendid form in the one-day series, was tentative and Khan provided the breakthrough in the fifth over when he bowled him with a delivery that nipped back.

Younis pulled Khan through midwicket for four but was lured into a reckless hook shot and caught by Patel on the deep square leg boundary.

Hameed quickly settled, driving Patel past cover and midwicket for three fours and flicking Kumble for another after the leg spinner brought himself on in the 16th over.

However, Kumble, the third highest test wicket-taker, beat him with a googly as he attempted to drive and bowled him.

Yousuf edged Khan past the slip cordon for four to get off the mark but then looked untroubled, the 32-year-old hitting five fours to remain as Pakistan's main hope of putting up a decent total.

Pakistan included left-arm paceman Sohail Tanvir for his test debut and recalled strike bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami for their first tests since January.

Indian off spinner Harbhajan Singh also made his return to partner Kumble, for his first test since June 2006.