England took a giant step towards their stated goal of ascending to the No 1 position in Tests. On the second day of the third Test here on Thursday, the hosts got themselves into a position of strength with an imperious batting display. It's just a matter of time before they win the Test and series, and dethrone India from the top.
Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen batted authoritatively and launched an onslaught on an outrageously mediocre Indian bowling. They finished the day at 456 for three, establishing a lead of 232 runs.
England scored 372 runs losing only three wickets on the day and their surge pushed India to a point of no return. Saving the Test from here will not be difficult, but impossible.
India needed early breakthroughs to stay in the game but England, resuming at 84 for no loss, were in no mood to concede any ground. In overcast conditions, England avoided early misadventure and opted for caution. The plan worked for them as the lack of runs in the first session was followed by a flurry of boundaries in the second and third periods of play.
Praveen Kumar bowled a miserly spell conceding only two runs in his first seven overs of the day, but India needed him to be destructive, not restrictive. He did not have the wherewithal to test the determined England openers.
S Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma tried short ones on the England openers but the batsmen were willing to bide their time. They managed only 73 runs in the truncated first session — due to a delayed start — but they were not worried.
Strauss (87), going through a lean phase with the bat, answered his critics with a fine innings. He was unlucky to miss his century after being bowled off a no-ball from Amit Mishra, but he had set up a launching pad for the others. Cook, all caution initially, played some delectable shots and completed his 19th century. The run machine, as he is called by the English media, too, was short of runs in the series, and a placid Edgbaston pitch coupled with the listless Indian bowling helped him regain his form.
After his 186-run stand with Strauss, Cook put on 68 for the second wicket with Ian Bell (34). He was then was involved in a 122-run association with Pietersen (63) and ended the day with an unbeaten 83-run stand with Eoin Morgan (46 batting). Cook was unbeaten on 182, after having faced 338 balls.
Pietersen provided the thrust to the innings. His arrival at 252 for two lifted the scoring rate. The England No 4 treated the Indian bowlers with utter disrespect, dispatching them to all parts of the park. He stepped out to the pacers as if he were playing spinners and treated the lead spinner (Mishra) like a club bowler. Class was unmistakable in his batting.
For India, nothing went right. If the bowling was listless, the fielding was excruciatingly sub-standard. Rahul Dravid has made it a habit to drop catches in every Test and he let go a couple of catches — one from Bell and another from Morgan — while Sreesanth was caught napping at point when Morgan offered him a dolly. It was a spectacularly forgettable day for India.
