A swashbuckling fifty from Stuart Broad helped England recover from a calamitous batting performance to finish the first day of the second Test with their hopes intact.
Some fine India bowling in swing-friendly conditions and poor shot selection from some of England's batsmen had seen the hosts collapse to 124-8 at tea at Trent Bridge.
But an entertaining partnership of 73 between Broad (64) and Swann swung the momentum England's way and hoisted their total to a potentially competitive 221.
Jimmy Anderson then had Abhinav Mukund caught in the gully from the first ball of India's innings, but Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman survived a severe examination from England's seamers to reach 24-1 at the close.
The experienced duo showed great skill under the floodlights to keep nine wickets intact, but England will have seen enough in the lively surface to believe they can dismiss the tourists on day two and keep their hopes of taking a 2-0 series lead alive.
The hosts' biggest concern could be an injury to Graeme Swann, who was sent for a scan on his left hand after being hit on the glove by a lifting delivery from Praveen Kumar, although it was later said the off-spinner had sustained no significant damage.
With Trent Bridge renowned as a swing bowler's paradise, India skipper Mahendra Dhoni surprised no-one when he put England in to bat after winning the toss under heavy cloud cover.
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Phil Tufnell,
Former England bowler and BBC summariser
That was a fantastic day. India bowled beautifully, Broad counter-attacked brilliantly, and it was just a great day's cricket. India will want to come back tomorrow with the sun shining bright. If it's like today conditions-wise, though, I expect more of the same with wickets falling. What a series this is shaping up to be."
The tourists, looking to bounce back after their 197-defeat in the opening Test at Lord's, made the first breakthrough after 25 minutes, as Ishant Sharma jagged a ball back off the seam and trapped Alastair Cook leg before wicket.
Jonathan Trott was the next to fall in Sreesanth's first over, playing at a ball he could have left and guiding a routine catch to Laxman at second slip.
With India's bowlers unable to maintain a consistent line, Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen saw England through to lunch with eight wickets in hand.
But the momentum swung dramatically after the interval, with all three Indian seamers hitting their straps as six wickets fell for just 55 runs.
Pietersen was surprised by the bounce of a ball from Sreesanth and nicked to third slip in the first over after lunch and Strauss had a wild slash outside off stump and was pouched by Suresh Raina.
Three balls later, Eoin Morgan was trapped on his crease by Kumar, before Matt Prior prodded at Sreesanth and was snaffled by Dravid at first slip.
A brilliant session for the tourists was complete when Tim Bresnan, playing instead of the injured Chris Tremlett, and Ian Bell both fell to Sharma before tea.
At 124-8, it looked as if England would do well to reach 150 but a clear change of tactic from Broad and Swann, reaped rich reward.
The duo were positive from the outset, attacking every ball and picking up boundaries all around the ground.
By the time Swann was out - gloving a surprise bouncer from Kumar to gully - he and Broad had added 73 in 11.4 overs and totally changed the complexion of the day.
Broad reached his 50 - off 56 balls - with a handsome drive over bowler Kumar's head, and struck his eighth and ninth fours before he was caught on the boundary off Harbhajan Singh.
Broad's innings was over, but thanks to his brilliant batting, the match was very much alive.
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