England, who have not lost a series on home soil since 2001, are facing a steep, if not quite insurmountable, climb to prevent themselves going dormie one down at Trent Bridge in their three-match npower Test series with India.

With fortune largely deserting them, their young and inexperienced bowling attack had to fight to control their frustrations and suppress the feeling that by rights they should already be leading the series after dominating proceedings at Lord’s. England themselves could perhaps now do with some rain to smooth their path to safety, just as rain saved India six days ago.

Michael Vaughan’s England sides are unused to having things quite so little their own way as they have here – and it showed. With Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan combining to mop up the three remaining tail-end wickets inside 11 overs, England were dismissed for under 200 in the first innings of a home Test for only the third time under Vaughan – and the two previous occasions, both at Lord’s, saw them beaten.

When India’s relatively unregarded opening pair of Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer – two tiny planets circling the suns of India’s middle-order batting – put on 147 for the first wicket to take their side to within 52 of a lead, England were in danger of losing their way altogether.

But Vaughan’s decision to give Monty Panesar a change of ends after seven unsuccessful overs from the Pavilion End – during which umpire Ian Howell turned down leg-before appeals that looked stone-dead against each opener – was to bear unexpected fruit when he asked Chris Tremlett to take Panesar’s place.

With the first ball of his spell, Tremlett produced a beauty, creating steep enough bounce to have Jaffer caught behind off the bottom glove for 62. England had struck their first blow in three hours. Then, with his seventh ball from the Radcliffe Road end – and the first of the day’s final session – Panesar had Karthik well caught by the diving Alastair Cook at short leg. The ball had flown there off the inside edge via Karthik’s pad.

But if England thought they were finally on a roll, they were to be disappointed. India’s third-wicket pair of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar know a bit about batting and had points to prove after their failures at Lord’s. They were intent on not missing out on a pitch that had lost some of its first-day juice.

Dravid, taking 15 balls over his first run, was typically immaculate and looked set for a big score from the moment that he struck Panesar through point for his first boundary, seven overs into his stay.

Tendulkar also had his hungry eyes on a hundred and did not look in any trouble, save for one moment that spoke eloquently of his advancing years. In the second over of Anderson’s first spell after tea, Tendulkar attempted, too late, to sway out of the way of a short ball and took a clattering blow on the side of the helmet. But unfortunately for England, Anderson’s reaction to the incident was worse than Tendulkar’s. In his next over he strove too hard and Tendulkar was able to steer the next short ball serenely over the slips.

Half an hour later, Tendulkar drove Sidebottom through the covers to bring up the 50 partnership and lift India into the lead; half an hour after that, Tendulkar, on passing 25, had raised his 11,000 Test runs, only the third batsman after Brian Lara and Allan Border to reach such a landmark.

It had become grim one-way traffic but then, a miracle. On 37, Dravid stretched out to drive Panesar and was finely caught by Ian Bell at short cover.

England’s double strike to remove the openers had taken much of the heat out of what had become an increasingly fraught situation. England had not bowled badly to that point. Indeed, they had created several opportunities and with better luck might have had three or four wickets.

Jaffer, for example, was dropped on 32 by Bell (who is so far not having a great series) off a one-handed diving effort in the gully. But Panesar, who has been warned before about his excitability, was barely disguising his annoyance with Howell’s recalci-trance, while Anderson, also with “previous” this summer, having been fined for his argy-bargy with Runako Morton at Edgbaston, was also getting hot under the collar.

Anderson, who had led the attack so vibrantly at Lord’s, had bowled well without luck but he allowed his misfortune to get the better of him and no one seemed inclined to tell him to get on with his job, except perhaps the smiling Jaffer. The tipping point was Anderson having a leg-before appeal against Jaffer, then on 45, turned down by umpire Simon Taufel. During Anderson’s next two overs you could not see his ears for the steam.

After Jaffer had driven him through the covers – actually through Kevin Pietersen, who fluffed his attempted stop – Anderson walked down for a few words, and repeated the process after Jaffer had got four more runs off an edge.

Anderson may have been unlucky but Jaffer played well too, digging out a yorker after being peppered with a short ball.

Less forgivably, perhaps, when Anderson gave way to Sidebottom, Sidebottom immediately started sledging Karthik as well.

Perhaps England thought these sort of tactics might get them somewhere, because behind the stumps Matthew Prior had hardly taken a vow of silence himself. The truth was that this promising but raw England attack was feeling the pressure. Unlike Lord’s, where nothing was expected of them, here they were expected to get in among the Indian batsmen early in favourable conditions for swing bowling; unlike Lord’s, too, they had no sort of total to defend and Vaughan was obliged to set less attacking fields than he would have liked. It was, in short, beyond them. England have barely landed a punch in this game to date and will not recall their previous Test here with any fondness. Last year, against Sri Lanka, they capitulated in the fourth innings to Muttiah Muralitharan.

Another mighty spinner may block their path this time. If the bounce becomes more uneven as the pitch dries, Anil Kumble– who removed Tremlett and Anderson yesterday morning – could be the key bowler for India in the second innings. He needs six wickets to overtake Glenn McGrath’s Test tally of 563.