Given his debut on Thursday, Harmison provided plenty of bounce but little indication he was capable of removing the world's best batsmen on the opening day.

His first 14 overs cost 33 runs and although he was relatively economical, none of India's leading batsmen seemed especially troubled by his raw pace or the extra bounce his ungainly action does generate.

But after rain wiped out Friday's morning session, Harmison kick-started his England career by claiming two wickets for one run in eight balls as India reached 302 for eight by the close of a second day restricted to only 25 overs - the minimum requirement to deny the 15,500 crowd a 50% refund from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The Durham man removed teenage debutant Parthiv Patel and Ajit Agarkar, neither of whom would be regarded as the strongest links in India's batting line-up but were nevertheless gratefully received by Harmison.

His first breakthrough came in his 18th over in Test cricket, Agarkar upper cutting towards third man for Mark Butcher to take a well-judged diving catch which ended a crucial 67-runs sixth-wicket partnership with captain Sourav Ganguly.

If that first victim had little to do with his own guile, the next dismissal was a classic fast bowler's success - a sharply bouncing short delivery which 17-year-old wicketkeeper Patel was too inexperienced to deal with and edged to the big hands of Andrew Flintoff at second slip.

Only seven more minutes play was possible, during which time Harbhajan Singh demonstrated his flair for strokeplay by hammering Harmison for successive boundaries, before rain halted play shortly after tea.

The early part of the short passage of play was dominated by Ganguly, who adopted an aggressive response after losing VVS Laxman to the sixth over of the day when he drove loosely at Flintoff and gave Robert Key his second catch of the match at first slip.

With the new ball only eight overs away, England's attack were favourites to run through India's lower order even without Dominic Cork, who failed to take the field after injuring his right knee attempting a run-out on the opening day.

Instead, Ganguly teamed up with Agarkar in an exciting 67-run partnership spanning only 93 balls, which threatened to take India to a commanding first-innings score and guided them to within two overs of tea before it was broken.

Virtually from the moment Laxman departed, Ganguly adopted a more aggressive stance and drove Matthew Hoggard for successive boundaries before repeating the feat against Craig White, who had replaced his Yorkshire team-mate from the Radcliffe Road End.

Agarkar, a second innings centurion in the 170-run first Test defeat at Lord's, enjoyed his share of fortune early on by driving wildly at Flintoff and just evading White's despairing dive in the gully.

He almost fell in a similar manner after progressing to 15 when he once again drove Flintoff on the up but substitute fielder Darren Maddy, on for Cork, failed to hold a sharp chance diving high to his right at third slip.

Even the new ball failed to change England's luck with Harmison being driven through gully for another boundary by Agarkar until the Durham youngster finally struck to claim the first of his two maiden Test wickets.

While Ganguly was still unbeaten at the crease, though, India still had an opportunity to forge a major first-innings total and looked on course to repeat the century he scored at Trent Bridge on his last Test appearance here six years ago.

Having moved to 68 after nearly three hours at the crease, though, Ganguly suffered a harsh decision from umpire Russell Tiffin, who upheld Hoggard's appeal for a catch behind after the India captain appeared to have been hit on the upper arm by a short delivery which flew down the leg side.