England finally found the breakthrough at Trent Bridge by dismissing the wicket of Murali Vijay before lunch, with India on 342-5 on day two of the first Test.
The tourists began the day on 259-4, and could have been another wicket down in the early stages of the session following Stuart Broad's delivery to MS Dhoni.
The Indian batsman drove the ball between wicketkeeper Matt Prior and slip, but the England player failed to keep the ball in his gloves as he dived to his right to catch it.
England's bowlers, including Broad, Liam Plunkett, Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Moeen Ali, continued to be halted by Dhoni and Vijay until James Anderson sent Vijay packing for an lbw, which wouldn't have stood if India had opted to use DRS in their Test matches.
The 30-year-old left the crease having hit 146 runs from 361 deliveries, while Dhoni remains unbeaten on 81 and Ravindra Jadeja, who starting off by hitting Ali for two sixes, sits unbeaten on 24.
