HAMPSHIRE'S Chris Tremlett had a far more satisfactory finish to his England Test debut than the start yesterday.

The pace bowler, a spectator on the first day as England piled up 268-4 against India, was part of an early batting collapse at Lord's yesterday.

The weather made England wait until the afternoon to resume their innings.

And Tremlett was out without scoring as England surrendered their last six wickets for 30 runs.

But England and Tremlett fought back as India finished the day on 145-4, opener Jaffer falling after nearly four hours of defiance for 58 shortly before the close, fending off a short ball from Tremlett and allowing him to take a diving return catch to claim his first Test wicket.

Resuming on 268 for four with Hampshire batsman Kevin Pietersen still at the crease, England would have hoped to try to bat their talented opponents out of the match, but instead subsided in little more than an hour.

Pietersen had added just three runs to his overnight 34 when he edged left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan behind and walked off almost as soon as wicketkeeper Mahendra Dhoni claimed a low, diving catch.

But Pietersen was given a dramatic reprieve when he advanced towards the pavilion and his teammates from the dressing room balcony gestured for him to return to the crease while umpires Steve Bucknor and Simon Taufel referred to television replays on the legitimacy of the catch.

He was given the benefit of the doubt, but it was ruled irrelevant to England's cause anyway in Zaheer's next over when Pietersen again edged behind and this time Dhoni took the catch at waist-height.