Second Test, day one, Trent Bridge

England v India - day one as it happened

England were dismissed for 221 on a tricky first day at Trent Bridge Andy Bull (morning and evening session) and Rob Smyth (afternoon session) guardian.co.uk, Friday 29 July 2011 05.05 EDT

Good morning everyone, the bell has been rung, the seconds are out, ready for round two? This promises to be another enthralling Test match. The first thing we have to find out is whether India have pulled a rope-a-dope at Lord's. I'm one of those who thinks that there's no way they will play that badly again. In three of their series in the last 18 months (South Africa at home and away, Sri Lanka away) they've been routed in the first Test only to come back and win or draw the second. Very few teams in history have been better at coming from behind. But how much has that beating taken out of them? They've already lost Zaheer Khan, arguably the single most influential player on either side, and the rumours are that Gautam Gambhir might be out too. We'll have to wait and see whether that's true, but if it is, it would be another big loss. The battle has taken a toll on England too. Chris Tremlett is almost certainly going to miss this match. The feeling is that India are going to bring in the lumbering quick Munaf Patel to replace Zaheer, which is going to do nothing to improve their ground fielding. Personally I'd rather see them pick the ludicrously flamboyant Sreesanth, and not just because he is one of the few cricketers who plays in a sweat band these days. Sree is arock and roll cricketer. No really, he is. See. I was hoping we'd get to see Sree and Swann, who is, of course, the lead singer of Dr Comfort and the Lurid Revelations, have some kind of rock strop show-down in the middle, but it seems we're going to be denied the satisfaction. Sky are running late, so we're going straight to the toss: India have won it and chosen to bowl first. MS Dhoni confirms that they have made two changes, with Yuvraj coming in for Gambhir and - hurrah! Sreesanth in for Zaheer. "We probably would have had a bowl as well" says Strauss, "but I don't think there are any massive demons in the pitch." He confirms that Tim Bresnan will replace Chris Tremlett. Since 2005 Trent Bridge has been one of the least forgiving grounds in the world for batsmen. Only Sabina Park has a lower runs-per-wicket average. Historically, England's record has been quite mediocre here, but they've got better, winning five of their last seven Tests here. The two exceptions? Sri Lanka in 2006 and India in 2007 - and look who won the toss and fielded first on that occasion. India's team has just got so much more entertaining. Let's see that again. An early word from the ground from Lord Mike Selvey: "Strauss was trying to hide his disappointment at the toss. This does not look like a five day pitch and England would have been very, very keen to bowl first." Sir Iron Bottom on the other hand reckons that it's not a bad toss to lose. Which means England are stuffed. So India are going to have to tinker with their batting line-up. Rahul Dravid will open. He is being forced, once again, to take one for the team. He has scored two centuries on pancake flat pitches in Pakistan as an opener, but his record in that position is still distinctly modest. Laxman will move up to No3.

But that can all wait. "One of the most tiresome aspects of any Indian Summer is the ongoing inability to get a simple name right," grumbles John Dalby. "Each time we play India, a new variation on the name, Sreesanth, seems to pop up in spite of the man himself seeking, a number of times I am sure, to settle the matter once and for all. I vaguely recall an interview with an increasingly exasperated Michael Atherton unable to comprehend that his name was simply Sreesanth. I note that you have yet to refer to one of the incorrect variations, so good on you, although I suspect that may be more luck (or laziness) than judgement." There is truth in that. The man has at least five variations on his name (Sree Sreesanth, S Sreesanth, Shiv Sreesanth, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, and the simple Sree Santh). He's yet to insist on being known by a symbol. But I'm guessing it's not long. His band, by the way, has the modest moniker of S36, after his initial and squad number. You do me a disservice though John. I once asked him to spell out his name for me, and he confirmed that he likes to be known simply as Sreesanth. "Is it a bit sad that I've been reduced to refreshing the main Guardian Sports page for the moment when the OBO comes live?" gasps Piers Barclay. "Or is it just a sensible level of enthusiasm about this Test?" Not only is that an acceptable approach, Piers, but it is one that is to be actively encouraged. Cricket fever. Catch a dose. "I agree with the excitement added to the Indian team by Sree's inclusion," says Piers Barclay, who has hit form early this morning, "but let's not forget what they already had. Which begs the question: are India now the best pound-for-pound team on the dancefloor in the game today? Is there going to be a super-over style dance-off to settle the series if it ends up 1-1 or 2-2? And who are England going to put up if it does come down to that? Here come the players, Cook and Strauss following the Indians out on to the field. 1st over: England 1-0 (Strauss 0, Cook 0) Praveen Kumar is going to take the first over. Asad Rauf calls 'play' and in comes Praveen. His first ball is full, and swings towards the slips. The next six are similar, with one of them moving so much off the pitch that it costs India a wide. "Please, please, please put my message up!" Pleading is not normally enough to get you on the OBO, but in this case I'm going to make an exception. I must be getting soft in all the excitement about this series. So yes, Hayley Furminger, here you go: "It would make an excellent surprise for my OBO-obsessive fianc. Thank you. Ok, so I know that my fantastic husband-to-be Miles is not only head over heels in love with cricket, he also adores the OBO. After getting engaged while watching Darren Clarke win the Open, becoming "invested" (his word) in the last test while painting the bathroom and watching the Ian Botham '81 BBC doc while eating our anniversary dinner last night, I think it should be obvious how much I bloody love the man. Big love to him and the England boys today." 2nd over: England 4-0 (Strauss 2, Cook 1) Ishant Sharma, who has cut off all his hair since we saw him last, will start at the other end. Cook eases a single away square, and Strauss then whips two runs down to fine leg. England are off and running. What a shame he's been shorn! Is this an effort to balance out the team after Sree's selection? Duncan Fletcher must have ordered Ishant to get a hair cut to stop the team becoming too rock and roll. Fletch must feel that the combination of long locks and sweatband could be dangerously disruptive. Going back to that last over, If I'm inclined to come over all romantic today it may be because I've been sent a copy of the marvellous-looking novel 24 for 3 by Jeannie Walker. 3rd over: England 5-0 (Strauss 2, Cook 1) Praveen's pace is down at 75mph, as it always is. It's slow enough to cause Mikey Holding to explode in contempt and suggest that Sree should be given the new ball instead. As you can see from the cover image, 24 for 3 seems to be a bodice-ripper set at a Test match. The catchline reads: "A home Test against India, starting on a Friday, and a woman's attention is torn between two men, each of whom knows more about the game than her." Frankly, this sounds like essential summer reading for all OBO fans. Rumours that is inspired by a real-life story involving Smyth and myself are grossly exaggerated.

4th over: England 6-0 (Strauss 2, Cook 1) "Can I complain in the strongest possible terms that you have done absolutely nothing to take the piss out of Warney's bonce?" writes Rob Jacques. "I can't make my mind up whether his rug is plastered down with Swarfega or if dear old Danbert Nobacon has been round with a bucket of water." There will be time, there will be time. Warne is going to be here all summer. And there's so much to fit in. I've hardly even managed to fit in a word about the cricket yet. Ishant's line is a little too far over towards the leg-side. It gets worse and worse as the over goes on, and ends with a ball that beats Dhoni and runs away for a bye. Zaheer could easily have torn through England on this pitch in these conditions, what a huge loss he is. 5th over: England 7-0 (Strauss 2, Cook 2) The first lbw appeal of the day, and Asad Rauf has a long, long think about it whether or not to give it. He stares at Cook like a gunslinger waiting for the chimes to stop so he can draw and shoot. But in the end he keeps his finger holstered. It was a good decision. HawkEye shows that the ball would have hit the top of off, but Cook was more than 2.5m down the pitch because, like all of England's batsmen, he stands out of his crease when Kumar is bowling. He takes a single from the next ball, and exhales to himself in relief as he stands at the other end. "Is it weird that I've been sat at my desk whistling Jerusalem for the last 30 minutes?" Yes, Andy Dennett. Yes it is. WICKET! Cook 2 lbw Sharma (England 7-1) Cook has gone this time! That's a bad decision from umpire Erasmus, unfortunately. Just like Asad Rauf, hew waited a long time before giving it out. But unlike his colleague, he came to the wrong conclusion in the end. Cook was coming forward and the ball hit him high up on the pads. It would have gone on to pass well over the top of the stumps. Here comes the world's second best batsman then, Jon Trott. Just like the first day at Lord's, England are going to be in for a really tough time of it this morning. Trott is welcomed by to the middle with an early lbw appeal, from a ball that came back from outside off. Umpire Erasmus shakes his head this time. "Reckon the dance-off between England and India would be representative of how they play their cricket," says Sam Pal. "England would do a team-wide sprinkler that is efficient yet powerful. India would send forward Sree and Harbhajhan with their ethereal individual talents. Really comes down to which model the judges like best." Really? Nick S has a different idea: "Loving the All Dancing Indian team, it's encouraging wonderful images of Ian Bell and Chris Tremlett knocking out a couple of numbers from 'Pygmalion'." 7th over: England 8-1 (Strauss 3, Trott 0) Strauss pats away a single, and Trott then takes a leg stump guard outside of his crease to face Praveen. One of the great things about the OBO is that readers often write in to say things that I was thinking myself but wouldn't dare write. Like this email from Ed Banister, for example: "Hayley Furminger? Will she be changing her name on marriage I wonder?" 8th over: England 9-1 (Strauss 4, Trott 0) Strauss takes another single off Ishant. Trott is playing very warily, trying nothing more ambitious than blocking the ball back down the pitch. "Perhaps it is time we started an OBO dating agency to put like-minded obsessives in touch with one another." muses Mike Selvey. I'm not sure how the ratio of men to women would work out on that, I have to say. Chris Clothier is having similar thoughts: "It begs the question, when is OBO going to have its first proposal. Volunteers?" What have you been reading for the last seven years Clothier? I've lost count of the number of Martin McCague has knocked Smyth back. 9th over: England 13-1 (Strauss 8, Trott 0) Kumar switches around the wicket, and swings the ball back in towards Strauss' pads. He's a cunning blighter, Praveen. You'd have to be to get away with it at his pace. His next ball is too full though, and Strauss whips it away for four. A cry comes up from around the ground as the relieved English fans finally have something to celebrate. But this is compelling cricket, despite the lack of runs. "How much do you think it cost Ishant to get a hair-cut in Nottingham?" asks Pulkit Khanna, who must be a man with an inquisitive mind. "In London they give a buzz-cut for like 20 quid but I guess Ishant's mane was too much for a buzzer. Any Nottingham hair-salon guys with a whiff of the trade?" There was so much of it to remove, I wonder they didn't charge him twice. I once went to get a wet shave on Jermyn Street cost me a day's wages. When I gasped at the bill the barber explained that they had charged me once for "the shave", and again for the "beard removal", because I had so much fuzz on my face.

10th over: England 18-1 (Strauss 8, Trott 4) Sharma whistles down a wide past Trott's off-stump, trying to lure him into actually playing a stroke. And if that was his intention the tactic worked, because Trott cracked the next ball past point for four. His first runs of the day. He swings and misses at the next one. 11th over: England 22-1 (Strauss 12, Trott 4) Sree is on for his first bowl of the morning, and he starts with a delivery which drifts down the leg side. Strauss glances it very fine for four. "24 for3 looks great," agrees Piers Barclay. "It's great to know that a woman thinks it possible for a woman to meet a man 'romantically' at a cricket match. Although, on closer inspection, it appears that actually it's a man who wrote it, under a female nom de plume, and women everywhere probably do find the storyline beyond the realms of fantasy. WICKET! Trott 4 c Laxman b Sreesanth (England 23-2) Sree has a wicket in his first over! Trott has gone. What a start for India, they've removed England's two most steadfast batsmen before either of them got in to double figures. It was an away-swinger, an almost perfect one, pitched up on off-stump. Trott played at it, and snapped his head around just in time to see the ball fly off the edge into Laxman's hands at slip. 12th over: England 25-2 (Strauss 13, Pietersen 1) Pietersen versus Sharma is turning into one of those enthralling little mano-a-mano duels that will define this series. According to Hussain, Pietersen was in the nets this morning practising playing that short, slanting delivery kind of delivery that Sharma got him out with in the second innings at Lord's. "Clearly Ishant hasn't been shorn of all his powers like the biblical Samson," writes Eamonn Maloney, "whilst the addition of hair to the Warne crown seems to have somehow depleted his masculinity. What a topsy-turvy world of follicularity." Yeah, to be fair, Warne's emasculation also has something to do with the Botox. And the eyeliner. And the lip gloss. And the fact that he is so firmly under Liz Hurley's thumb that he seems to have lost an inch or two in height. 13th over: England 26-2 (Strauss 13, Pietersen 3) So, England have at least scrapped past 24 for 3, which means you can all stop writing in to tell me I'm jinxing the team now. And no, Geoff Oxendale, sadly I don't have another new tome called 500 for 4 to start plugging on here. "In answer to Ed's tactfully worded question," writes dear Hayley Furminger, "Yes I will. After 27 years of off-colour surname-related jokes I'll be taking up Geffin instead. Adios Furminger!" Adios Furminger? Can I use that as the title for my second, less successful, novel? 14th over: England 27-2 (Strauss 13, Pietersen 4) Kumar is coming back into the attack, only this time from the other end. Pietersen is playing with a very straight bat indeed. He pats a single away square. "Adios Furminger sounds like a great pseudonym for the author of 500 for 4," points out Bob O'Hara. It's a sign of just how much I'm enjoying this OBO that we've had 27 runs in the first 70 minutes and yet I'm too engrossed to have noticed it. This is hard graft for England, who, much as at Lord's, are planning to bat slowly and steadily until the sun comes out and life gets a little easier. 15th over: England 33-2 (Strauss 14, Pietersen 13) Sree serves up a full inswinger to Strauss, who flicks it square for a single. And then Pietersen counter-attacks, latching on to a sluggish short ball from Sree and walloping it away for four through mid-wicket. Sree, stubborn fool that he is, decides that the best way to follow up that lolloping 83mph half-tracker is with, well, another lolloping 83mph half-tracker. And, surprise surprise, Pietersen plays exactly the same shot for four more. Free runs please! "I contend that romance at a cricket match is entirely possible," says Paul Mitchell. "I met my wife at Lord's, 4th day of the first test 1994. I'm English, she's South African. We were all out for 99, although I missed a lot of the cricket," [really? that was quick work] "and then called in sick the next day. I recently took our 11 year old son for a tour of the ground to show him where it all started. And where I met his Mum." Goodness me. What are we meant to read into that, Mitchell? 16th over: England 40-2 (Strauss 17, Pietersen 13) Strauss nudges two more away to the leg side. A single puts KP on strike, and Praveen makes the next ball spit up past the bat into Pietersen's thigh. "Put

Praveen Kumar's brain in Sreesanth's head and you would have one good bowler instead two ordinary ones," points out Gary Naylor. "Then Munaf Patel could play too." 17th over: England 44-2 (Strauss 21, Pietersen 13) Sree does pitch his first ball up in this over, and then scowls to himself as Strauss creams it back down the ground the four. Here's Nick Lezard, writing in from another part of Guardian parish: "As a public service, you may want to direct readers to my review of 24 for 3 in case they're in two minds whether to buy the book. I was the first person to pick up on it, by the way, which makes me feel disgustingly cuffed with myself. Very pleased you've mentioned it, it's terrific." 18th over: England 48-2 (Strauss 21, Pietersen 17) England are purring along now. This was a wonderful shot from Pietersen, a leg glance away for four through square leg. Oh, and just as I thought England were on top he plays and misses an on-drive at the next ball and is hit flush on the pads. India appeal, and umpire Erasmus squints and shakes his head. Again Kumar has been undone by the fact that the batsman was batting outside the crease. All of England's top seven have been adopting this tactic when batting against him, and it means that when they do get beaten by the inswinger they are so far down the pitch that the umpire is disinclined to give it. Pietersen, for example, was 2.66m from the stumps when the ball hit him. Oh dear, Praveen is furious. He is bawling out umpire Erasmus now, and Harbhajan has to step in and drag him away. He's obviously crossed a line here, and he could find himself getting in a lot of trouble with the match referee. Rather than rant at the umpire, why doesn't Praveen just tell his captain to come up and 'keep at the stumps. Do that and they would force the batsmen back in the crease. 19th over: England 50-2 (Strauss 23, Pietersen 17) Strauss lofts a careless sort of pull away into the air in the leg side, but the ball falls safely to the turf. "Romance at the cricket?" asks Colin Pidgeon. "I fell in love with Boddingtons at the Old Trafford test against the Windies in 1995. Does that count?" 20th over: England 55-2 (Strauss 23, Pietersen 21) Pietersen squirts four past the gully, and then Kumar curls an inswinger in towards Pietersen's pads from outside off-stump, which KP picks off and pats away square for a single. "It seems as though India have taken Naylor's suggestion on board," says Thomas Hopkins, "but then put out the bowler with Sreesanth's brain in Praveen's body. Seems an odd tactic." 21st over: England 56-2 (Strauss 23, Pietersen 23) Ishant Sharma comes back into the attack now, and gasps in frustration as Pietersen knocks a single past short leg. "Is it possible that Liz has simply had Warney laminated on grounds of hygiene and durability?" I'd say that's a fair guess from, Carol Fullilove. 22nd over: England 57-2 (Strauss 23, Pietersen 24) "England were doomed from the moment they realised that they are just a two Test series win away from becoming the leading Test side," mopes Bill Vincent. "As far as England's sporting history goes, with only a very few exceptions, proximity to success is the soundest guarantor of failure, disappointment and a nagging sense of injustice. You have been warned." Unfortunately enough, that strikes me as a depressingly accurate analysis of the recent history of English sport. Praveen finishes this over with a jaffa that swings at the last minute and zips past Strauss's exploratory grope outside off-stump. 23rd over: England 60-2 (Strauss 24, Pietersen 24) Oh, David Hopkins, you had to go there, didn't you. "With apologies to Miles, wouldn't it be better for all concerned if Hayley Furminger and Carol Fullilove were to get married and settle on a double-barrelled surname?" 24th over: England 60-2 (Strauss 24, Pietersen 24) Kumar stomps in for another over. He switches to bowl around the wicket, and angles a full ball into Strauss's pads. He roars out a solo appeal, without any support from the chorus of close fielders. Umpire Erasmus chews his lip and shakes his head, and this time Kumar manages to avoid exploding in anger. It wasn't a bad shout that one, I'm not sure why India didn't make more of it. "Re: romance at cricket," writes Simon Pate. "My parents got engaged at Lord's in 1945. I don't know what the match was - all my mother says about it was that when my grandmother asked to see the ring my grandfather told her to be quiet and wait till the end of the over. There's a man with sound

priorities, although I've always thought it a bit strange that my dad proposed in front of his future in-laws." What a lovely story. 25th over: England 64-2 (Strauss 25, Pietersen 26) Gentlemen, an orderly queue please: "I would LOVE an OBO dating site," squeals name-and-address-quite-sensibly-withheld-given-some-of-the-shady-sortswe-get-hanging-about-on-these-pages. "As, in my short experience of such sites, including the not-quite-sodreadful Guardian Soulmates, men are very shy in confessing to a love of cricket. I'm loud and proud about it, but an OBO-mates would certainly cut down on the filtering I have to employ. (PS: OBO-ers can find me on Soulmates as 'songsmith', or I'll be in the Radcliffe Rd end on Sunday!)." 26th over: England 68-2 (Strauss 29, Pietersen 26) Bhajji will take an over before the break. His first ball is a rank long-hop which Strauss clatters to the boundary. "Bowling Bhajji!" shouts one of the close fielders, a tad optimistically, I can't help but feel. "You do know that there is already one OBO-generated engagement, don't you?" says Richard O'Hagan, referencing our long-time readers Lynn Bashforth and Jeremy Theobald. "After all, you were at the post-OBO drinks in 2007 when the couple in question met for the first time." Indeed I do, Richard. If I forgot it was only because I've tried to erase that catastrophic night from my memory. If I recall it was gatecrashed by a few drunkards who masqueraded as colleagues of mine, which was all fine and funny until the colleagues themselves turned up. Much hilarity ensued. 27th over: England 69-2 (Strauss 29, Pietersen 27) Lunch is two minutes away but Dhoni has decided it is time for some pies regardless. Yuvraj Singh, playing his first Test in over 12 months, will get an over at his old pal Pietersen. From the non-striker's end, Pietersen, leaning on his bat, shouts out "no spin, very slow" by way of a warning to Strauss. The over passes without incident, and that, ladies and gents, is lunch. Well, I enjoyed that enormously. Which almost certainly means that when I read this session back I will find that it is riddled with errors. That always seems to be the way of it. England fought back superbly after an enormously testing first hour or so, and I'd say that right now the honours are evenly split. Rob Smyth will be here for the afternoon session shortly, so long as he can prise his sweaty fingers off that copy of 24 for 3. Please send your emails to him now on rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk. LUNCH Hello. It's been a good week for OBO freebies. On Monday, Katie Cannon sent us a cake; today, Emma Hibbert, who works for Adnams, has sent us a bottle of Adnams Gin. I hope this will start a healthy twoway relationship in which you send us food and booze and we find an appropriate home for it. We shouldn't really advertise products, of course, but I suppose if we were able to advertise them I might conclude thatAdnams Gin is the best thing that has ever happened to anyone, ever. Auction department Now, you may know that Guardian Sport's Steph Fincham is planning to cycle around Sri Lanka in support of MAG next year. Lord Selvey has submitted a brilliant piece of cricket memorabilia to be auctioned: an England hat signed by last winter's Gabba centurions, Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, with their scores next to their signature. You could pin it on the wall, or use it to give people the high hat (am I the only one whose lifetime ambition is to give someone the high hat?), anything you like. We'll conduct the auction throughout this Test series. I suppose the best way to do it is for you to send in your bids, and we'll update you each morning on what level the bidding has reached. Who's going to open the bidding then? While we're talking about Miller's Crossing (sort of), this must be the best example of, er, hitting children in cinema history. Awww, somebody hit you?

"There is a disturbing riff developing about an OBO dating service," says Ian Copestake. "I would, therefore, like to suggest that while a Test Match makes for romance, with time for knowing looks, the slow burn of mutual understanding and desire and all that, Twenty20 cricket suggests the need for a different type of website for those who just want to get to the nitty-gritty of hitting a lot of sixes." This would all be wholesome, analogous fun were it not for the fact that the proverbial county-cricket crowd comprises one man and his dog. WICKET! England 73-3 (Pietersen c Raina b Sreesanth 29) Pietersen has gone in the first over after lunch! That is a mighty blow. It was a good one from Sreesanth, moving away off the seam and perhaps lifting a touch more than Pietersen might have expected. He edged the ball low to third slip, where Suresh Raina took an awkward two-handed catch very nicely. 28th over: England 73-3 (Strauss 30, Bell 0) Innings like these will define whether Ian Bell ends his Test career among the great or the good. He needs to improve on a dire record against India. "Objection - in the strongest possible terms," is the subject of Cathy Anderton. I hate receiving emails with a subject line like that; I instinctively that my racist/sexist/ist past has finally caught up with me, and that a P45/cop car is on the way. Not in this case, though. "We women go to county cricket too you know. Perhaps if some men went who weren't more interested in their dogs than was good for them were there, that fact might have come to light before now!" I did say 'proverbial'. 29th over: England 73-3 (Strauss 30, Bell 0) A maiden from Sharma to Bell, who is beaten by the last delivery. There is decent carry in this pitch, although of course England only have the one tall seamer in this match. The Pietersen dismissal came in slightly odd circumstances, incidentally. He was distracted by something behind the sightscreen, an open window I think, and was muttering about it on the way off. In other news, after months of fearful silence, Rhodri Burridge has finally had the courage to express a nation's concerns. "Why can't Andrew Strauss control his shirt collar when he wears a jacket for the toss before each Test?" says Rhodri. "Is it asking too much that he checks himself in the mirror before he steps out of the changing room? Or am I just focusing on an utterly insignificant detail in an attempt to distract myself from the pain of witnessing an old-school England batting collapse? Am I the only one who cares about the England captain looking like he's been out on an all-day Pimm's binge at Cheltenham races?" 30th over: England 76-3 (Strauss 32, Bell 1) An entertaining piece of nonsense. Bell checks the ball back to the bowler Sreesanth, who dives forward to claim it on the bounce and then throws it up in celebration. Then he runs after the ball. All the while Ian Bell looks him up and down with delicious contempt, while MS Dhoni has a look on his face that says, "he's not with me". Brilliant stuff. Everyone on the field just washed their hands of Sreesanth. As Shane Warne says, I don't think Sreesanth was trying to cheat; he just got carried away. In fact I have no idea what he was doing. The best bit was when he was went charging after the ball after throwing it up in the air. All that obscures the fact that Ian Bell very nearly got a second consecutive duck. Instead he gets off the mark later in the over. Sreesanth is booed at the end of the over and then sarcastically claps the crowd. He has certainly livened this game up, and he has bowled some bloody good deliveries too. 31st over: England 79-3 (Strauss 32, Bell 4) That's a nice stroke from Bell, who times Sharma through the cover for three. As the chaps on Sky and Russell Hughes, via email have said, England have a formidable lower order in this match: Prior, Bresnan, Broad, Swann, Anderson. That's awesome, and it's hard to believe it's only 12 years since Alan Mullally batted at No9. "An OBO dating service?" says Robin Hazlehurst. "Can I just point out one thing that could close that down straight away? Mac Millings reads the OBO. Shudder." Millings has a third kid on the way. I know, thrice. Millings has also written a guide about to getting on an OBO or an MBM, should you be so inclined. 32nd over: England 80-3 (Strauss 32, Bell 5) Sreesanth beats Bell with a gorgeous outswinger that draws him into the drive and then roars past the edge. Beautiful bowling. I thought England would eschew the cover drive today but they have played it a fair bit. In other news, James Scholey has started the hat auction at 50. "Double if you somehow adapt the hat so it can have two cans of lager attached with some kind of drinking tubes from the lager cans to the mouth," he says. "Off to Edgbaston for the third, and that would

certainly come in very handy. Lager doesn't smudge signatures does it? That's just lesser liquids. Like water." 33rd over: England 81-3 (Strauss 32, Bell 6) Bell works Sharma for a single. On Sky, Shane Warne is talking about Gossip Girl. Don't blame me, he started it. "I've never seen it," replies Bumble. "Emmerdale Farm, me." It was last called Emmerdale Farm in 1989. Then again, I still refer to Snickers as Marathons, so I don't know what I'm on about. "I wouldn't say I feel as strong an urge to give anyone the high hat," says Geoff Savage, "but I have always wanted to take my flunky and dangle." 34th over: England 81-3 (Strauss 32, Bell 6) Sreesanth beats Bell with another beauty outside off stump. When he bowls like this you wonder why on earth he isn't a regular, but he can be wildly inconsistent. Bell ignores a very seductive outswinger later in the over, and then he's beaten again. An excellent maiden. Sreesanth's line and shape have been lovely since lunch. "Never mind all this soppy 'getting together' nonsense," says Kathryn Oliver. "I was born at the end of 1981. When my nan turned up at the hospital shortly after, she asked my dad how it was going and he said 'we're 370 for 7'. Then I think he got a thick ear from his mum." It's just dawned on me that I was conceived during the summer of David Steele. I don't know what this means, and I'm not sure I want to. 35th over: England 81-3 (Strauss 32, Bell 6) Kumar is on for Sharma. Both sides are waiting for the other to blink, so it's another maiden. India have control of the scoreboard at the moment, although they could maybe do with a fourth seamer. "I'm here Rob, but I've got nothing to say," says Luke Richardson. "I think this is down to the fact that the cricket is pretty gripping. Other OBOers might characterise this as typical of the OBOer lurking in the corner, just watching." The Ferret. 36th over: England 85-3 (Strauss 32, Bell 10) A rare piece of filth from Sreesanth, short and wide, is slapped past point for four by Ian Ronald Bell. Sreesanth gets it right thereafter with four inviting full outswingers. Bell ignores them. "What's a good first-innings score here Rob?" says Luke Satchell. "I'd take 250 at the minute." It's really hard to say, not least because of the part the overhead conditions play at Trent Bridge. If I had to name a par score right now I'd go for precisely 327. But I am rubbish at reading pitches so I really don't know. WICKET! England 85-4 (Strauss c Raina b Kumar 32) England are in trouble now. This is a poor stroke from Andrew Strauss, who has a needless drive at an outswinger from Praveen Kumar. It flies to third slip, where Raina takes a superb two-handed catch just as the ball is about to deface him. Strauss scrapped for his 32, but he is still a long way from his best. For the first time, a few folk are asking whether he may past his best. WICKET! England 85-5 (Morgan LBW b Kumar 0) Now England really are in the malodorous stuff. Eoin Morgan usually struggles against the moving ball early on, and he has lasted just three balls. It was another fine delivery from Kumar, swinging in and then straightening to hit the pads as Morgan played defensively outside the line. After a long delay Asad Rauf raised his finger. That was all distressingly predictable. Morgan checked with the umpire whether he had been given out caught or LBW, which he didn't do at Lord's. If it had been the former he could have reviewed the decision; it wasn't, and he's gone. That's Morgan's third duck in eight Test innings. The selectors are going to have a test of their nerve soon. I hope they hold it, and give Morgan a proper run. 37th over: England 85-5 (Bell 10, Prior 0) So, Matt, if you could just score another 120-ball century, that'd be grand. A double-wicket maiden for Kumar, who is the unexpected joy of the summer. "I certainly don't think speed dating would be the way to go for the lovelorn OBOer," says Mark O'Neil. "Imagine the pain of seeing the girl/boy of your dreams at a table only to realise when you got there that Gary Naylor had got there first and already trumped whatever conversational nugget you'd been working on."

38th over: England 86-5 (Bell 11, Prior 0) The ball has started boomeraning in the last couple of overs. Bell has few thoughts other than survival. It will interesting to see how Prior plays; he likes to wrest back the initiative as soon as possible, but counter-attacking is fraught with peril at the moment. 39th over: England 86-5 (Bell 11, Prior 0) Kumar has got in a string at the moment. Bell defends one huge outswinger, and it's yet another maiden. England are 17 for three from 12 overs since lunch. "While any batsman can get three scores in single figures (in Strauss' case 4, 0 and 3 vs Sri Lanka), top batsmen should not be dismissed for 20, 22, 32 and 32, as Strauss has been in his other Test innings this season," says Gary Naylor. "Is this a run of poor form or, at 34, is this the start of a terminal decline?" Far too early to say, I think. But the point is spot on the nearly scores will concern Strauss a lot more than the failures. Mind you, Eoin Morgan would bite your hand off for a few 20s and 30s just now. WICKET! England 88-6 (Prior c Dravid b Sreesanth 1) This is a monstrous delivery from Sreesanth, quite magnificent. It homed in on middle stump and then left Prior sharply to take the edge, squaring him up in the process. Dravid at first slip took a comfortable catch. Outstanding cricket from India, and especially Sreesanth. 40th over: England 88-6 (Bell 13, Bresnan 0) "Why is Morgan in the England team?" says Iain Mott. "Why?" Are you asking for a fight? Morgan is one of the few batsmen in the world blessed with genius. Of course he has to improve certain parts of his game if he is to make it in Test cricket, but where's he supposed to learn: in ODIs? On the PlayStation? What will really annoy me is if England drop him at the end of this summer just in time for a trip to the subcontinent, where they really need his fearlessness and mastery of spin. I don't think they will. I think he'll get 18 months to two years and they will make a judgement then. Which is as it should be. 41st over: England 89-6 (Bell 13, Bresnan 0) There's no need to panic. India have bowled very well, especially since lunch; England have played the odd dodgy stroke but haven't too much wrong. And you are allowed to be skittled by the best team in the world when the ball is swinging. You almost want England to hit out or get out so that Anderson can have a decent bowl in these conditions. Almost. "OBO speed dating could work," says David Brooks. "If you don't like the look of the person on the other side of the table simply hit F5 and hope that they refresh." 42nd over: England 98-6 (Bell 22, Bresnan 0) A double let off for Bell. First he slices the new bowler Sharma high over the slips for four, and then he pushes a defensive stroke this far wide of his off stump. He gets an authentic boundary later in the over with a delightful cut stroke. Sharma is definitely the least threatening of the three seamers in these conditions, although that's something of a 'shortest giant' competition and Bell is beaten later in the over. "This is supposed to be the slug-it-out-for-number-one spot test series," says Chris Drew. "So we should expect India to fight back like this. I'd prefer England to become number one after a 'proper' fight for it, and now we'll see just whether this side deserves to be number one." Darn tootin. And actually, never mind being No1; I'd happily take a 2-1 England win right now. This was always going to be a cracking series, and today's events have added to that. Please don't be daft enough to think that this game is over. 43rd over: England 98-6 (Bell 22, Bresnan 0) Bell is dropped by Dravid! Kumar found the edge with a good legcutter, and it flew low to the right of Dravid at first slip. He seemed to have grabbed it in his left hand but then it slipped out a split second later. "Good catch no, down!" said Mike Atherton on Sky. It was a tricky chance, but a slipper of Dravid's quality will be pretty disappointed with that. Another maiden from the formidable Kumar, who has figures of 16-7-21-2. Meanwhile, Tim Leach's wins the competition for greatest-ever OBO email subject with "Et tu, Extras?" Brilliant. "Truly grim times out there for the England team," Says Tim. "Even our reliable old warhorse, Extras, who can usually be counted on to be our top scorer in these desperate situations, is still stuck in single figures..." 44th over: England 102-6 (Bell 22, Bresnan 4) Bresnan gets off the mark, and brings up the hundred, by deflecting Sharma to fine leg for four. Then he is beaten by an utter snorter, a lifting leg-cutter that growls

past the edge. You can't play those. Don't even bother trying. Anyway, Tom Hopkins also has Miller's Crossing in mind: "Sister, when Sreesanth has raised hell, you'll know it." 45th over: England 108-6 (Bell 28, Bresnan 4) Kumar beats Bell with another monster. This is a ludicrous delivery. It swung in and then zipped sharply off the seam in the other direction. "If you faced that ball 100 times you'd struggle to hit it, I promise you," says David Gower. Bell tickles the last delivery of the over off the pads for four. "I'm assuming one of the questions we'd be asking potential dates is how early it's appropriate to start praying for rain," says Victoria Ashton. "Right about now looks good to me. Not that I don't have absolute faith in England's bowling." 46th over: England 112-6 (Bell 28, Bresnan 8) Sreesanth is back after a short break, and raps Bresnan on the glove with a short one. The sound has gone on Sky, which means I can't tell you what they're saying about an excellent comeback from Bresnan, a flowing cover drive for four. Sreesanth responds himself with a preposterous leg-cutter that beats the bat. "So what is a par score on this then?" says Alex Stevens. "It's hooping around and looks a bit two-paced: 275 - 300? I seem to recall you saying that a pitch like this is one of the best things about being alive. Still of that opinion?" Damn straight. This could be a sensational Test. I suppose the only concern, in terms of the contest, is that if the weather is better tomorrow it might follow the pattern of Trent Bridge 2007. 47th over: England 116-6 (Bell 30, Bresnan 10) "I know this isn't pirate radio, but: can I please get a shout out to the mighty Hellcatmudwrestler CC, who are playing The Exeter Inn, Chittlehamholt (North Devon), this Sunday?" says Steen Stanley Jensen. "I won't be able to play as I'm in China, sadly." How could I say no? 48th over: England 117-6 (Bell 30, Bresnan 11) This is turning into a really good innings from Bell. You're never in on a day like this, but he is about to become top scorer and a 60 here would be more valuable as many of his Test hundreds. WICKET! England 117-7 (Bresnan c Dravid b Sharma 11) Another one gone. It was another very good piece of bowling, a back-of-a-length delivery from Sharma that straightened just enough to square Bresnan up and take the edge. Rahul Dravid at first slip tumbled to his left to take an excellent low catch. 49th over: England 117-7 (Bell 30, Broad 0) You fancy England will play their shots after tea, and so they should. It would be good if they could get at least 30 overs with the ball tonight. By the way, when I said par was 327, I obviously meant for both innings. I can't believe you eejits didn't realise that. "Morgan blessed with genius?" sniffs Iain Mott. "That is surely a word you put with e.g. Richards, Tendulka or Lara. You seem to be trying to squeeze Morgan into that sentence. Fight? Yes, I must warn you though, I boxed for my local club." I would say you are confusing genius and greatness. But of course it depends on the individual interpretation of the word 'genius', and how strict they are in its application. For example, in his autobiography, Mike Atherton (who doesn't throw words like 'great' and 'genius' around willy nilly like most eejits) says that he played against only two geniuses in his international career: Lara and Azharuddin. Most people would say that leaving Tendulkar off a list of geniuses is absurd, but I know exactly what he means. I throw these words around like an eejit, however, and I think Morgan has a touch of genius, definitely. That doesn't mean he'll make it at Test level. I have no idea whether he will or not. 50th over: England 124-7 (Bell 31, Broad 6) Broad gets off the mark by squirting an inswinger from Sreesanth into the pad and away for a couple. Then he blasts a wide half-volley through the covers for four. He and Swann should definitely attack in this situation. "Hi Rob," says Chris Rose. "I must say, much as I want England to stick 750 on the board from here, I must say I'm desperate to see what England's bowlers can do in these conditions...."

WICKET! England 124-8 (Bell c Dhoni b Sharma 31) You know what I was saying about Ian Bell top scoring in the innings? A-hem. He's gone, toe-ending an attempted cut through to Dhoni, who almost dropped the catch as the ball wobbled nastily. 51st over: England 124-8 (Broad 6, Swann 0) That's tea. It's been a glorious couple of hours for India, who claimed six wickets for 55 runs in 24 overs. A fascinating evening session will begin in 20 minutes' time. Join Andy Bull for that. TEA Gee-whizz. It's a good thing that the English didn't get too carried away after winning the first Test eh? That no one went around crowing about how we are the best team in the world and were going to beat India 4-0 eh? 'Cause that would have been embarrassing. Wouldn't it? "Is it cowardly to pray for sunshine and no cloud cover?" asks Tom Westgate. "I have tickets for day 3, starting to get concerned." Ill omens dept: four years ago England lost the toss and were put in to field by India. They were bowled out for 198, with Ian Bell top-scoring with 31. Then India made 481. "I'm sitting on the sofa reading the OBO, and steadily tearing my hair out thanks to this less-thanbrilliant England performance," grumbles Will West. "Is there any solace to be taken in the fact that conditions will be difficult or the Indians as well?" Never judge a performance or a pitch until both sides have had a bowl, Will. England's attack should be even better equipped for this pitch and these conditions than India. Where I do worry is that England's two most durable batsmen, Trott and Cook, both fell early. India have Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman, all of whom are capable of playing with similar dedication and application. It's a mistake to think that England's batting today has bucked a trend by the way. They've remained curiously prone to batting collapses right through Andy Flower's time in charge. Only last Sunday they were 65 for five. Usually though at least one batsman has managed to dig in and get them out of trouble. Against Pakistan last summer they lost six wickets for 17 runs at Trent Bridge, seven for 46 at Edgbaston and seven for 28 at The Oval. And in 2009 they were bowled out for 51 by the West Indies and for 102 by Australia. The common factor on each occasion has been that the ball has swung. 52nd over: England 128-8 (Broad 9, Swann 1) Simon Townend is not the only man crying out "declare!" "Surely now is the perfect time for the declaration. It would have the element of surprise, and give us the whole session to bowl at them while we've still got the cloud cover." Nope, not while England have Swann and Broad together at the crease. Watch me jinx them right here, but they must be as good a No9 / No10 combination as England have ever fielded in a Test match. Swann has 35 first class fifties and four centuries. There was a time when England's entire tail from eight to eleven couldn't muster half that number between them. 53rd over: England 140-8 (Broad 12, Swann 10) Ishant starts at the other end. Swann swats away his first delivery for four through square leg. "What we are witnessing in the shape of the incumbent England captain is something I've coined the Strauss Paradox," says Ian Cairncross, who I feel would have a lot to talk about with Keith Flett of the Beard Liberation Front. "Whereby the more follically challenged a captain becomes, the greater his corresponding decline in calibre. This is something borne out by history, with the notable exception of Graham Gooch (who improved), heroically amassing runs despite appreciable losses in the crown area." Did Gooch compensate for his receding hairline by growing out his 'tache though? Maybe Strauss should adopt a similar approach and start grooming a full set of whiskers. Ishant bangs in a short ball which Swann wallops away through mid-wicket for four. The bouncer is truly a waste of time on this pitch. Every one India have delivered has been dispatched to the boundary by the batsmen.

54th over: England 155-8 (Broad 22, Swann 11) And as if to prove the point, Broad hoicks a bouncer away for four through deep square leg, beating the scampering boundary fielder. He flicks the next ball to fine leg for four more, and then has a heave-ho to long-on. Three boundaries in three balls then, and here you have all the explanation you need about why England weren't about to declare. "Interesting point you raise about the batting line-up's susceptibility to swing," says Chris Rose. "You'd think the batsmen would have worked on this with Anderson & the gang to iron out such technical difficulties." I could answer that, Chris, but Gary Naylor has done it for me: "Point taken about England's vulnerability to swing ball, but have any Test team ever assembled six batsmen comfortable against the swinging ball? I liked Graham Thorpe's tight technique and ability to watch the ball right on to the bat, but I'm struggling to think of another batsman I'd back to have toughed it out today." English batsman, you mean? Because I can think of one or two who I might back to succeed in this match, only they've not had their turn yet. 55th over: England 160-8 (Broad 24, Swann 15) These two have been swinging like Benny Goodman's rhythm section. And so Dhoni has been spooked into bringing Harbhajan on for a bowl. If he thinks that is going to stop them he should know better. Broad sweeps a single away square and after conscientiously blocking four deliveries Swann steps down the pitch and thrashes a drive for four through long-off. "There are few sights in cricket more entertaining than a couple of tail enders (sorry, Duncan, 'lower order batsmen') thrashing the bowlers around the park," chuckles David Horn. "A cheeky partnership of 40 or 50 here will completely change the complexion of the innings - boost the crowd, and make for a thoroughly entertaining last couple of hours. I'm off to get a Magnum and enjoy this." A Magnum? Do they sell Lambrini in bottles that big? 56th over: England 166-8 (Broad 24, Swann 18) Seems I awardede Broad four runs that were actually leg byes earlier on, which is why his score has rolled back a touch. Bhajji makes a half-arsed attempt to cut off a ball at short third man, and as Athers points out, as he tumbles to the turf he takes a quick look around to see if any of his teammates are backing him up. All he sees is Yuvraj, stood staring at him from backward square with his arms crossed. "I'll go myself then shall I?" "Yeah. I would." 57th over: England 173-8 (Broad 31, Swann 20) Swann takes a lumberjack swing at a full ball from Bhajji, lofting high into the air back behind the bowler's head. It falls between the fielders, and Harbhajan scowls in irritation. His expression gets uglier still later in the over, when Broad spreads his legs and smears four over to cow corner. "Not sure if I could name English batsmen who have perfect techniques against the late swinging ball (few people do) but if it came to the guys with the granite-like cajones to get you out of a pickle, Thorpe, as mentioned, was classy," says Gareth Fitzgerald, getting all misty-eyed. "Gooch's 154 at headingly showed a man who was clearly 40% rugged testicles, and Robin Smith at the Edgbaston Death-trap in '95 almost brought tears to the eyes. Athers in Jo'Burg too." 58th over: England 181-8 (Broad 37, Swann 19) And that's a fifty partnership for these two, from 42 balls. It's not just the fact that they're scoring them, it's the rate at which they're doing it. Praveen is back into the attack now, but it makes no difference. Broad chops four down to third man, then lashes a drive over mid-on. The ball skims the fingertips of the leaping Abhinav Mukund. "When last I looked, MS Dhoni was captain of the World Number One ranked team and the World Champions and I'm, well.. I'm not. But how can he have gone so defensive so quickly? England aren't yet 200 and they have eight wickets down and Dhoni wants to block off the boundaries..." At this point Gary Naylor decided draw breath and take a long hard look in the mirror: "I'm turning into Fred Trueman aren't I?" 59th over: England 187-8 (Broad 43, Swann 22) Of course Duncan Fletcher kind of wins either way here. Even if India get routed he'll be able to say that it only proves his point about how important it is in the modern game to have bowlers who can bat. Broad thrashes four through extra cover. These two are batting so well. Sing, sing, sing, baby. 60th over: England 191-8 (Broad 44, Swann 25) Bumble is coming in off his long run because Mukund is fielding at mid-on wearing a whopping great pair of shin pads, which means he is lumbering lummoxlike about the outfield. And even as the words leave his mouth, Broad hits a catch right to Mukund, who topples forward with his hands in front of his face like a drunkard pushing through an open door. The ball

lands just in front of him, and when he gets up he buzzes the ball past the stumps for an overthrow. Oops. "Not sure how much good 'drawers', granite-like or otherwise, would do you against the late swinging ball," fnarr fnarrs Jamie Cooke-Sosa. "Cojones, on the other hand, might serve you well." That's the second time this week we've had that problem. 61st over: England 196-8 (Broad 45, Swann 28) "Stuart Broad has been a bit all or nothing with the bat for the last year or so," points out Tom Bowtell: 0, 48, 6, 169, 0, 54, 3, 0, 0, 74*, 43*" Boy oh boy this has been fun. These two have put on 70 now. I'm upgrading this from Benny Goodman. It's now officially the most swinging thing I've seen since Tito Puente turned up on Sesame Steet. WICKET! Swann c Mukund b Praveen (England 197-9) "Oy! Oy! Oy!" shouts Bumble, as though he'd just found out the deli was out of dill pickle. It was a strange dismissal. A length ball from Kumar leapt up, forcing Swann to flinch, and then flicked his glove before looping through to slip. That's an extraordinary ball. Batsmen on both sides will be hoping it was a freak delivery, because it was utterly unplayable, a ripsnorter that spat like fat from the pan despite coming through the air at 75mph. 63rd over: England 199-9 (Broad 47, Anderson 1) It may not be a bad thing if this innings does end soon, because the sun is starting to come out, and if the weather gets much better the Indians might find the going a lot easier than the English did this afternoon. Anderson's single takes England past their tally from the first innings four years ago. 64th over: England 199-9 (Broad 47, Anderson 1) Praveen beats Anderson with a pair of deliveries that are, quite simply, much, much too good for him to hit. 65th over: England 204-9 (Broad 49, Anderson 2) And there's the 200, raised with a single through square leg. What a counter-attack this has been by Broad, following on from his 74 at Lord's last week, and what a mess India have made of bowling to the tail. Dhoni gets his field settings in a muddle here, and Broad to take a single from the fifth ball, giving him the strike for the next over and allowing Anderson to face just the solitary delivery at the end of this over. He knocks it away square for two. "They've slightly lost the plot," says Nasser. And he's right. 66th over: England 208-9 (Broad 53, Anderson 2) Don't uncross your fingers just yet. This is a very good stat-spot from John Dalby: Only four times In their last 31 tests have England have scored less than 250 in their first innings. Each occasion has led to defeat for England (Perth v Australia, Oval v Pakistan, Jo'burg v S Africa and Headingly v Australia). England have only had 4 defeats in their last 31 Tests." What a way to bring up a fifty! Broad clouts a drive straight back down the ground past the bowler to the boundary. He gets a standing ovation from the crowd, and tugs off his helmet to acknowledge their applause. 67th over: England 210-9 (Broad 53, Anderson 6) "Thank you, Andy, for the lovely Benny Goodman clip," says Marie Meyer. "And also thank you, fashion world, for killing off the style of men's trousers that it features." Bull looks down at trousers. Huh, yeah, I mean who would be caught dead wearing them? Scurries off to the toilet to change into a new pair of strides, muttering to himself as he goes. 'But Hadley told me they were in this season'. 68th over: England 217-9 (Broad 60, Anderson 6) Sreesanth is back into the attack now. Broad knocks his first ball past the geriatric Yuvraj at square leg. I would say that Yuvi creaked at the knees as he tried to bend down and field it, if he had any knees left. It gets better, Broad tonks the next ball for four over midoff. Broad takes a single from the last ball, so he will keep the strike again. This is a shambles. India are playing like a real rabble at the moment. 69th over: England 221-9 (Broad 64, Anderson 6) That's a wonderful shot from Stuart Broad, an insideout drive for four that could have been the stroke of a No3, never mind a No9. And then...

WICKET! Broad 64 c Tendulkar b Harbhajan (England 221) The show is over, Broad is caught on the boundary at cow corner. Honours even then, given that India would have happily taken a total of 221 at the start of the day, but would have been expecting to be facing something much lower than that when they were sipping their chai in the tea break. "Dear Andy," writes Thomas Semester, in what I like to imagine is an impeccable Boston Brahmin accent. "I am an American working on my first book, which is called "Beasts in Cages Down The Ages A Compendium of Unusual Happenings in Zoos" I am a recent cricket convert currently visiting England (and hoping to catch some cricket, was reading that Bart King, an AMERICAN, invented swing bowling.) Anyway, if any of your readers have any interesting stories about things which happened to them in zoos, or involving animals in general, I'd love to hear from them." OK, firstly, to claim that Bart King invented swing bowling is just ludicrous, given that we were playing cricket in this country for 200 years before he was even born. And secondly, given the irredeemably smutty minds of , , , the vast majority of our readers, do you really want to ask them for "interesting stories about things which happened to them in zoos, or involving animals in general"? Really, really? I mean, by way of an example, I've had six variations on this email from Will Hayward in the last five minutes: "You say Broad 'tugs off his helmet to acknowledge their applause' - pretty controversial way of celebrating..." England have one hour to make a dent in this Indian batting order. They break out of a huddle and sprint to their positions. Here come the batsmen, Dravid and Mukund. If you do have any zoo stories, dear readers, do feel free to send them in. WICKET! Mukund 0 c Pietersen b Anderson (India 0-1) That's a golden duck for Mukund! Anderson has taken a wicket with the very first ball of the innings. India, it is worth noting, need 21 to avoid the follow-on. It was a poor shot from the young man Mukund, striding forward to drive at an away-swinger that slipped off his outside edge and shot to point. Laxman joins Dravid in the middle, it's as though the last five days never happened. 2nd over: India 0-1 (Dravid 0, Laxman 0) This is going to be an interesting hour, but don't necessarily expect too many more wickets to tumble and fall. Dravid and Laxman won't be playing the kinds of rash shots that Mukund attempted. Graeme Swann, by the way, has gone for a precautionary x-ray on the thumb of his left-hand, the one that got hit by that brute of a ball that got him out. "Interesting (?) zoo experience?" asks Adrian Dixon. "I was urinated on by an Ocelot at a French zoo as a 5 year old. Hot day, right in the Chevy Chase - smelt pretty bad. Still not sure what an ocelot is..." You may not know what one is, but I presume you at least know how to titillate an ocelot? If you don't, try and work it out, because I'm not going to tell you. But I will admit that your story full justified the use of the question mark. 3rd over: India 1-1 (Dravid 0, Laxman 0) The camera picks out Lord Selvey's column in this morning's Guardian. "Prescient," says Gower. Laxman sneaks a leg bye, and then watches from the non-striker's end as Dravid is beaten by a jaffa from Anderson. 4th over: India 1-1 (Dravid 0, Laxman 0) Broad has settled into a groove, landing the ball a little outside off-stump and swinging it away. If he can just straighten it up a little more than he will be very dangerous indeed, but for now Laxman is able to leave his bowling well alone. Thomas Semester could kill two birds with one stone by including a cricket zoo story," points out Tom Van der Gucht. "Wasn't Steve Waugh whizzed on by lions whilst visiting zoos on two separate occasions whilst touring? On both occasions he went on to score a century too. That did happen, didn't it? Having typed it I'm worried it might have been a dream, it sounds pretty unlikely." No, on this occasion you're quite right van der Gucht. In fact I believe that the second time Waugh visited the zoo he insisted that the lion pee on him, because he was out of form and feeling superstitious. I don't know how he made the lion, umm, perform. I suppose he just stared at it until it lost control of its bladder.

5th over: India 5-1 (Dravid 4, Laxman 0) After 29 fruitless balls, India finally get a run off the bat as Dravid glances four away square. 6th over: India 7-1 (Dravid 4, Laxman 1) Laxman squirts an inside edge down towards short leg, prompting a few excited shouts from the close fielders. Laxman gets his own first run later in the over, knocking the ball through mid-wicket. "Do safari parks count?" asks John Starbuck. "I was with a friend in his new car which he wanted to show off, so naturally we went round a safari park, where he ran out of petrol. We had to wait a long time for the rescue team (pre-mobile phone days) while the baboons soiled his paintwork and ripped off the wipers. As they do." Indeed. I once had a very similar experience in Ilminster town centre. 7th over: India 11-1 (Dravid 4, Laxman 5) Anderson over-pitches, prompting Laxman to chance an audacious cover drive. He connects cleanly, and the ball whistles away through extra cover for four. 8th over: India 12-1 (Dravid 5, Laxman 5) Broad roars and runs his fingers through his hair as Dravid chops an inside edge into his pads and past his stumps. "Don't know if this is really classified as weird, but at Sea World in Australia many years a go (I was about 12 I think), I was lucky enough to get to swim with a dolphin along with some other people and an accompanying trainer," recalls Tim Xumsai. "At one point in the session the dolphin was idle in the water in front of the trainer (who was probably telling us something interesting that I don't remember) and we were all treading water either side of the dolphin - I was located at the back right hand side of the Dolphin. My memory is a bit hazy here, but I do remember the trainer commanding the dolphin to go perform a 'trick', which was quickly followed by the dolphin rapidly turning in my direction and proceeding to smash his entire head into my face. It's like when you absentmindedly walk into a lamp post, but 100 times worse. Like I said, the memory is a hazy one." 9th over: India 14-1 (Dravid 7, Laxman 5) There's 30 minutes to play tonight. It might be time to give Tim Bresnan a bowl. Anderson hangs three balls outside off-stump, then makes an innocuous-looking delivery rear up into Dravid's bottom hand. That was a little like the ball did for Swann. REFFERAL! Dravid c Prior b Anderson And the very next ball beats Dravid as it jags back off the pitch and goes through the gate. Asad Rauf shakes his head, but Andrew Strauss asks for a review all the same. He should have known better. Rauf's umpiring has been utterly impeccable in this series, and he is right again here. The ball slid past the bat, hitting the pad, if anything. So the decision stands and Dravid bats on. 10th over: India 15-1 (Dravid 7, Laxman 6) Broad beats Laxman with an inswinger that nips back and clatters into VVS' box. Ouch. "He's down for a compulsory eight count here," deadpans Bumble. The physio comes out, but as Bumble says "there's not much he can do, other than offer a bit of sympathy." Even Nasser is at it: "there's still too balls left..." he waits a beat "in the over." 11th over: India 16-1 (Dravid 7, Laxman 6) And here is Tim Bresnan. He starts well, a no ball aside, with a series of tight away-swingers. In my in-box, James Cook has got into a right funk because he has sent me two - very good - pictures, one of his wife and daughter hugging a panda, and another of a goat walking a tightrope with a monkey clinging to its back. No really. I'll repeat that, a goat walking a tightrope with a monkey clinging to its back. The thing is, it's late, I'm lazy, and I can't quite be bothered to crop the photos and upload them in between overs just so you can have a cheap chuckle about the bad practices of some Chinese zoo. Sorry. 12th over: India 16-1 (Dravid 7, Laxman 6) broad finds the edge of Dravid's bat, and the ball flies through to Prior, dropping just short of his gloves. "Surely Laxman went down for a compulsory twocount," points out Simon Lacey. "How many swingers can one man have?" 13th over: India 21-1 (Dravid 7, Laxman 10) Laxman caresses a pull away through the leg side for four, rolling his wrists over the shot with the grace of Blofled stroking his cat. Bresnan ends the over well though, rolling a cutter past Dravid's outside edge.

14th over: India 22-1 (Dravid 7, Laxman 11) Broad is bowling beautifully. Whatever he did between the end of the Sri Lanka series and the start of this one, he should make a habit of repeating it. Perhaps he took a tip from Steve Waugh and got a animal to pee on his kit. If he did I suppose he could do the proverbial and bottle it. 15th over: India 24-1 (Dravid 7, Laxman 13) The last over of the day. What a superb session of batting this has been from the two masters in the middle. Exemplary technique, and admirable fortitude from them both. A jaffa from Bresnan, a leg break that gripped and ripped off the pitch past the edge. "There's no playing that," says Nass. The last ball of the day is driven through cover for two, and India end the day trainling by 197. Well, what a day's play that was. Rob will be back here tomorrow to see what happens, but I won't reappear till later in the match. Thanks for all your emails. I'm off to read the rest of 24 for 3. Cheerio.

Second Test, day two, Trent Bridge

England v India - as it happened

Stuart Broad took a hat-trick and Rahul Dravid made a masterful century as India edged ahead at Trent Bridge

Rob Smyth (morning and evening session) and Tom Bryant (afternoon session) guardian.co.uk, Saturday 30 July 2011 05.22 EDT

Preamble Morning folks. The big news is that last week I learned that web articles don't need to have a minimum of four paragraphs for SEO purposes, so there's no need for the preamble to have really absurd, Short One-line Paragraphs. Anyway, yes, "the preamble". The real preamble Tomorrow's another day. That's what folks say to us when we've got black dog running wild around our undercrackers. It's sage advice, really. But sometimes tomorrow isn't another day, it's just the same day with a different name: you still wake up as you, and the haemmorhoids are still nipping in their inimitable style. England will be happy if today is yesterday by another name. The ball moved lavishly in the air and off the pitch; this, coupled with some nasty bounce, meant batsmen were never truly "in". If conditions are the same today, England will expect to stay right in the game and possibly take a first-innings lead. India, by contrast, will hope for a whole new day - like at Trent Bridge in 2007, when they skittled England on the first day, also a Friday, and then scored 400 as the clouds lifted on Saturday and Sunday. So, what you really want to know is: what's the weather like in Nottingham? It's frustrating, isn't it, when you are desperate to hear an imminent piece of information and the source of this information doesn't give

it to you straight away. They tease and torment you, like David Chase did with that thing in the last scene of the Sopranos, the thing we probably shouldn't describe in case there's anyone out there daft enough hasn't seen the greatest TV show in history*. It's really annoying when people wilfully avoid cutting to the chase like I'm doing now by rambling about anything other than hang on, is that lavender I can smell? the fact that IT'S SUNNY IN NOTTINGHAM, OKAY! Yes, it's sunny in Nottingham. Sunnyish, anyway. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman batted masterfully last night in gruesome batting conditions, and it appears the weather gods have rewarded them for their excellence. Or have they? The ball will probably still swing, if not as much as yesterday, but the pitch is still, in the parlance of our time, a lively mother. We may be in for that rare treat: the Test-match dogfight. Put your patriotic concerns aside for a second and let your mouth water the prospect of a storming day's play. * When it is acceptable to plot spoil? The last episode of the Sopranos was four years ago now, yet still we tread on eggshells in case we accidentally tell someone what happened. Is it a simple time issue or do you also have to factor in the quality/gravity of the show? You do, don't you. Nobody would care if I jauntily revealed what happened in last night's My Family, but pity the fool who publicly discusses the endings of The Sopranos, Six Feet Under (the best ending in history, by the way) or The Shield. Auction update Our auction for the signed England hat has already reached 200 dollars, thanks to somebody who wishes to remain unnamed. Do I hear 200 pounds? Go on. 16th over: India 24-1 (Dravid 7, Laxman 13) Stuart Broad gets the day off to a fine start with a cracking first delivery to Rahul Dravid that beats him on the inside and rams into the thigh pad. The big thing for England, as Shane Warne and Mike Atherton have just said on Sky, is not to overcomplicate things or strive too hard for wickets. Graeme Swann is off the field by the way, even though his X-ray apparently showed nothing. A good first over from Broad, who is bowling with significant force at the moment. It's a maiden and he now has figures of 8-4-5-0. "England's attack might be great on a cloudy day in St. John's Wood, but can they do it on a sunny Saturday in Nottingham?" says Mac Millings. "I thought that one up all by myself, but no need to credit me. I'm in a generous mood. It's yours for nowt." 17th over: India 32-1 (Dravid 7, Laxman 21) Praveen Kumar was fined 20 per cent of his match fee overnight after being found guilty of needing lessons in decorum from Harbhajan Singh. Jimmy Anderson starts from the other end, and his fifth ball is cut wristily for four by Laxman. That was a lovely shot, a decisive whirl of the wrists. The next ball is a wide, swinging half volley that Laxman pings beautifully through extra cover for four. "It's not that sunny in Nottingham," says Paul Cockburn, once of this parish. "There's a fair bit of cloud around at the moment, so we might get some bowler-friendly conditions for the first part of the day. It's nowhere near as muggy as yesterday, though. This might be one of them long days in the field moments, much like when I used to take kids away camping" 18th over: India 40-1 (Dravid 15, Laxman 21) Dravid makes it four fours in as many balls by timing Broad off the pads through midwicket and then driving crisply through cover point. After 24 runs in the first 100 balls, India have scored 16 in four. Broad responds with a good leg cutter that grubs and beats Dravid. "Having seen yesterday's Five highlights I was a trifle miffed that no-one on the OBO really got into the hirsute varieties on show," says John Starbuck. "Not only has Sharma had his hair cut, he's developing the beard and it's coming along really well, while Sreesanth looks like a spoilt Teddy Boy with that high top and sideburns. What's more, Bresnan seems to have had a lot of intricate razor work done. These are urgent matters for OBO readers, even non-BLF subscribers." 19th over: India 44-1 (Dravid 15, Laxman 25) The ball is swinging, though not extravagantly. It's vital that England are patient today and don't lose their nerve if they go for a few, like India did after tea yesterday. Anderson goes wide on the crease to Laxman, who skim a defensive push past backward point for four. That was an awesome piece of timing. "Morning, Rob," says Richard Mansell. "I'm writing from the maternity ward at UCH, where my wife is labouring away. Disgracefully, the room doesn't even have a TV, let alone Sky just a whole load of boring equipment. I shall have to rely on sneaky OBO updates on

my phone to keep track of scores until little Sachin in born (note: wife not aware of this name choice. I hope to pounce while she's drugged up and recovering)." 20th over: India 44-1 (Dravid 15, Laxman 25) Dravid shapes to leave a delivery from Broad, realises it has started to follow him, and just manages to get his front leg out the way before defend with his glove in the end. A maiden. Dravid and Laxman will worry England, of course. They are peerless when it comes to batting time. Yet on a pitch like this the most dangerous players are often the ones who chance their arm, as Sourav Ganguly showed in that mighty match at Kanpur in 2008. "There's plenty of cloud around Trent Bridge," says Gary Naylor. "It's very still and as sultry as those 70s Lamb's Navy Rum billboards that distracted my teenage self rather too much. England really should be able to get movement in the air and off the seam, but they must risk being driven by pitching it up." 21st over: India 44-1 (Dravid 15, Laxman 25) Anderson sends a huge inswinger to Laxman down the leg side. It's another maiden. Shane Warne is advocating the introduction of Bresnan. "You don't sense the batsmen are under pressure," he says. "Don't stick to the manual of giving the opening bowlers five or six overs each." "I'm glad to see Bresnan back for England," says Tom Van der Gucht. "His 1930s strongman physique, honed in the dales, and rough stubble promote him back to the top of my favourite cricketer table. I also like Ryan Harris for similar burliness reasons. However he's not English and he let Yorkshire down so he can get stuffed. It's his loss really." 22nd over: India 46-1 (Dravid 17, Laxman 25) England are bowling a very full length, which is definitely the right approach. Dravid crunches a couple off the pads, the only runs from another good Broad over. "Whenever these two are at the crease I always get the feeling that something really special is possible," says Cian Martin. "Obviously they have a history of dogged determination and match changing partnerships, but even still there is something about this mix of the classical and resilience that Dravid and Laxman provide that sums up why Test cricket is a true spectacle." REVIEW! India 48-1 (Laxman c Prior b Anderson 27) England are risking their second review, and they have to because that looked as if Laxman was caught behind. He pushed defensively at Anderson, and there was a noise before the ball rushed through to Prior. Asad Rauf said not out, and Strauss went for the review without consulting his team-mates. This is such a difficult decision, because Hotspot shows nothing but there was a big sound, and the bat was miles away from everything else. I have no idea which way this will go. On balance I suspect a) he was out but that b) he will be given not out. Yes, Laxman is not out. England now have no reviews remaining. I suspect it's the wrong decision, but also the right one in terms of the DRS process. I bet Snicko shows he hit it, mind. 23rd over: India 48-1 (Dravid 17, Laxman 27) I can understand why England are hacked off and they are, big time but I don't think the umpires did anything wrong. This will be a good test of England's mental strength now. "I'm a big Broad fan, but I'm used to him being expensive with the ball and getting out for nought or thereabouts with the bat and feeling that's OK, so long as he bowls a golden spell now and again, and has an unquenchable will to win," says Sara Torvalds. "But this new Broad topscoring and constantly threatening, going for less than a run an over I'm not yet comfortable with. Will it last? Will he self-destruct in some improbable fashion?! Or is he the new Botham?" What's with the 'or'? 24th over: India 48-1 (Dravid 17, Laxman 27) Snicko does indeed suggest that Laxman hit the ball. No surprise there. So it was the wrong answer but with the right working. Should the third umpire go more on sound? I don't know. Anyway, that's another maiden from Broad to Dravid. England have control of the scoreboard again after that spell of four boundaries in as many balls there have been only eight runs from the other 44 balls this morning but India won't mind that. With every over, the ball gets older and England's three-man attack get a little wearier. 25th over: India 48-1 (Dravid 17, Laxman 27) Bresnan replaces Anderson, who wasn't quite at his best. The first over is an accurate maiden to Laxman, who is playing with a certainty that is either ominous or thrilling, depending on who you support. "There are indeed a range of hirsute varieties at Trent Bridge but

the issue is how these are deployed," says Keith Flett. "India successfully used a mixture of hirsute and clean shaven bowlers. The England attack this morning is entirely clean shaven with predictable results." Can Brian Blessed turn his arm over? The combination of that beard and that sledging voice would make batsmen go a big rubbery one. 26th over: India 52-1 (Dravid 21, Laxman 27) Broad cuts Dravid in half with a brilliant delivery that seams back a long way and bounces over the stumps. He's bowled very well this morning. Saying which, the next ball is an attempted yorker that turns into a low full toss and is punched down the ground for four. "I'm massively confused," says Richard Dennis, idly dousing his toothbrush with Brut. "I thought the job of the umpires is to come to the right decision? So the third umpire knew it was the wrong decision, but made it anyway? Bonkers." That's not quite it. I suspect he suspected it was the wrong decision, but didn't have sufficient evidence to overturn the on-field umpire's decision. It's far from ideal, and in a pure sense England woz robbed, but I don't know what else the third umpire could have done. 27th over: India 57-1 (Dravid 21, Laxman 32) Laxman eases Bresnan through extra cover for four. "Ah, beautiful," says David Gower, who knows a thing or two about the art of batting, before almost turning into Bernard Matthews. "Beauuuutiful." This is a splendid tussle, as much mentally as anything. ""There was a noise," says Tim Pickering, "but on Snicko it didn't necessarily seem to be in time with the ball passing the bat. There are often mystery noises when the ball is nowhere near the bat and the England slip cordon are often convinced and then proved conclusively wrong subsequently. So the jury is still out on that one!" The delayed noise is just a frame issue, no? I am 99.94 per cent sure Laxman was out. 28th over: India 61-1 (Dravid 21, Laxman 36) Anderson has replaced Broad, who bowled a good spell of 6-1-14-0. England could suffer after lunch with only three bowlers, and none of them spinners. Still no official news on Swann. Laxman carts a lamentable short ball over midwicket for four. "If the slated noise is frame issue, then the technology is unreliable," says Archishman. "Which is why it is not being used. End of matter, no?" None of the DRS technology is 100 per cent reliable, and the reason Snicko is not used it because it takes too long to rev up. So apart from being wrong on every count, you've nailed it. 29th over: India 65-1 (Dravid 25, Laxman 36) Dravid steers Bresnan deliberately to third man for four. That has become a remarkably fertile area for him. "Allow me to at least give you some Indian perspective here," says Aditya Anchuri. "VVS Laxman is one of the honest cricketers in the world, and if he would have nicked it I guarantee you he would have walked. He simply didn't hit it. Sometimes, as someone said earlier, you can get these mystery noises." True, but sometimes batsmen don't know they have hit it. There was a recent example, I forget the details. I'd bet my highest hat that Laxman was out there, but it's done now. 30th over: India 74-1 (Dravid 25, Laxman 44) Four more to third man, this time from Laxman off Anderson. India are stealthily taking control of the match. Anderson, on his 29th birthday, looks like he has spent too long listening to this. He goes for another boundary next ball, this time with a gorgeous, wristy pull. Laxman is playing magnifcently, with Dravid content as ever to be the guy behind the guy. What a pair they are. "Hotspot really is a waste of everybody's time," fumes Tom Hopkins. "Why can they not get Snicko to work in a reasonable timeframe? Are they matching the sound and picture on a Betamax or something?" It's all academic: after that Laxman incident, the world governing body the BCCI won't be allowing Snicko in a hurry. 31st over: India 77-1 (Dravid 26, Laxman 46) With no Swann on the field, England's second-change bowler is Jonathan Trott. England say that Swann is fine, but that he is having treatment. Trott, who replaced Bresnan, bowls a quiet over. We often talk about bowlers earning wickets for the man at the other end. With this immaculate defensive innings, Dravid is earning runs for the men down the order. Ah, now Swann is running onto the field, with a heavily strapped left hand. He can bowl straight away by virtue of the fact it was an external injury. "I, on the other hand, would bet everything I own that Laxman was not out," says Robert Speed. "I submit as proof the fact that he remained at the crease after the review decision." That's cleared that one up then.

32nd over: India 81-1 (Dravid 26, Laxman 50) Laxman times Bresnan through extra cover for four to reach a gorgeous fifty. It has the early whiff of a match-winning innings. We might just look back on it as a series-winning one. "Stop whining," says Stephen Kidd. "I'm sitting in Hong Kong airport and OBO is my only access to information on the match. But, you have really got to stop whining about Laxman's possible edge. Whenever the same thing has benefited England in the past, have you really spent eight overs complaining about it. Get a life! And, enjoy that fact that you can continue to enjoy watching Laxman's wonderful batting while people like me are reduced to reading about it via text on a laptop." Who exactly do you think you are? I made it abundantly clear right from the start that it was the correct decision in accordance with the DRS procedure. I then responded to emails on the subject, as I am supposed to do as part of my job. And then you make miserable accusations of an excessive partisanship that is palpably against the spirit of the OBO, in a rude and presumptuous tone, like the whole internet should do everything in accordance with your wishes? Go away, clowns like you aren't welcome here. 33rd over: India 83-1 (Dravid 26, Laxman 52) "Are you guys kidding?" says Aditya Anchuri. "Hotspot is way better than Snicko. An infrared camera that shows frictional heat is highly reliable compared to something that just captures surrounding sound, which would be prone to obvious error." Did I say one was better than the other? I have no idea which is better. Some of you lot need to chill out, take a lesson from this man. 34th over: India 88-1 (Dravid 30, Laxman 53) Dravid opens the face to steer Bresnan to third man for four more. Bresnan responds with a horrible lifter that raps Dravid on his unprotected bottom arm. Dravid is in a fair bit of pain and receiving treatment. \"Am sneaking a risky single right under my wife's nose, as her eyes seem to be closed (but possibly nonetheless all-seeing)," says Richard Mansell. "Little Sachin is staying well within his crease for the moment, although the drip cordon is closing in (We won't really call him Sachin, by the way - perhaps Sreesanth - although cricketing names are not unknown in my family: my cricket-loving uncle Miller, although South African, named his son Keith). Any good cricket names your readers could suggest? Fanie is always a favourite." 35th over: India 93-1 (Dravid 34, Laxman 54) Dravid continues after treatment and gets four more to you-know-where off Trott. I can't really concentrate properly as there's plenty of abuse flying in for the crime of suggesting that maybe Laxman hit the ball. Naughty me! I don't mind people completely disagreeing, or even saying that I'm a swine, a bounder and a useless writer, but you can shove your accusations of xenophobia. You're bang out of order. The internet really should be put back in its box. "I have a feeling that India are going to bat like they did at Headingley in 2002," says Anand. "Wouldn't it be lovely! On that note, I am off to my weekly grocery shopping with the missus." For the unfamiliar, that was one of the most two-paced innings imaginable. Dravid and Sanjay Bangar gave a defensive masterclass in swinging conditions, and then Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly flogged England to all parts the following day. India scored, if memory serves, 12 million and won by an innings to square the series. WICKET! India 93-2 (Laxman c Prior b Bresnan 54) Bresnan gets Laxman with a snorter, a lifting leg cutter that takes the edge on its way through to Prior. File under 'he did well to edge it'. Laxman played wonderfully for his 54. 36th over: India 93-2 (Dravid 34, Tendulkar 0) This is definitely, as Nasser Hussain says, a 'one wicket brings two' pitch. Mind you, the scope for such a scenario is reduced by the identity of the new batsman: Sachin Tendulkar. It's a wicket-maiden from Bresnan. 37th over: India 103-2 (Dravid 39, Tendulkar 5) Another triumph for the internet. "It's not our fault," writes Gary Neville, "you look like a child molester." Trott continues, which is a big surprise now that a wicket has fallen, and Dravid steers four runs. I don't even need to tell you where, do I? It's an expensive over, with Tendulkar waving four more through the covers. Jonathan Trott, it's fair to assume, won't be bowling another over this morning.

38th over: India 107-2 (Dravid 39, Tendulkar 9) Another over, yet another boundary to third man, but this time it's by Tendulkar off Bresnan. "Do you really think Laxman hit that one from Bresnan?" says Mike Selvey. "I'm not sure. It may have shown on Hotspot and Snicko and the umpire gave him out but it is all very unreliable and you know it was VVS. Calm down Smyth. Take no notice. Have a drop of that Vera Lynn from Adnams." I do, yeah. I might be wrong. Who cares. 39th over: India 107-2 (Dravid 39, Tendulkar 9) Jimmy Anderson replaces Jonathan Trott. There are two slips for Dravid. Even though India are well on top, England will know there is at least the potential to go through the middle and lower order fairly quickly (there's also the potential for Yuvraj, Raina and Dhoni to score run-a-ball 70s, but let's accentuate the positive for now) if they can just break this partnership. Anderson almost does so with a good delivery that jags away and beats the groping Dravid. A maiden. 40th over: India 107-2 (Dravid 39, Tendulkar 9) India are playing for lunch now, and Tendulkar defends carefully during another maiden from Bresnan. Meanwhile, another email from Gary Neville, this one asking whether I was bullied at school. I should probably inform you, Mr Neville, that I have your IP address and I'll be contacting my solicitor with regard to your earlier comment. 41st over: India 111-2 (Dravid 43, Tendulkar 9) Ah, I've just picked up on Lord Selvey's joke a few overs ago. Apologies. Anyway, Dravid pushes Anderson into the ground and back over his head for four. This has been a masterful innings from Dravid, already the longest of the match, and with plenty more forward defensives where that came from. "The solution to Snickageddon," says Bruno, "is to fit the bat with one of those car alarms that goes off when you're at the checkout and the dog in your boot sees a bitch in the car park. Mute it for normal play, then turn it on during the review for all to hear." 42nd over: India 111-2 (Dravid 43, Tendulkar 9) Another maiden from Bresnan to Tendulkar. Batting has definitely been easier this morning but I would still say it's a pitch on which you're never truly in. I suppose England will want to limit India's lead to 50 and India will want a minimum lead of 100. "Please let it be the real Gary Neville," says Steve Churnin. "Please, please, please." 43rd over: India 111-2 (Dravid 44, Tendulkar 14) Tendulkar drives Anderson beautifully through the covers for four. Anderson has been Caddick-like in this series so far, underwhelming in the first innings and devastating in the second. Anyway, that's lunch. It was India's morning, no question, and they are well set to build a decisive lead. Tom Bryant will be with you after lunch. I'll leave you with an email. "Please report that Sachin has got one and it's not been given," says Dan Lucas. "Just for shits and giggles at the whole new level of vitriolic opprobrium it would bring; you might even incur the wrath of the BCCI and generate hitherto unknown levels of publicity for the OBO, and after all isn't THAT part of your job too?" Ah, our OBO friends at the Telegraph have almost beaten us to that. I just hope Jonathan Liew can sleep at night. LUNCH What are you doing for lunch? Sky have a feature on Murali's no-ball in 1999, including an interview with an unrepentant Ross Emerson. It looks like a cracker. LUNCHTIME STATGASM Care of Wisden's Steven Lynch: this is the first time the two leading run scorers in Test history have batted together since 1911-12. Afternoon all: That is quite the stat and it's not one that will be causing too much cheer in the England dressing room at the moment, it's safe to say. This afternoon looks like being a long one, with the ball and conditions doing less and less to help, while Dravid and Tendulkar do more and more to frustrate/dominate (depending on your view). An email update on something I have no idea about: I trust some of you might. "I've just about started feeling alive this morning after our work summer party yesterday," emails Piers Barclay. "Sadly Goon of

Fortune didn't get a run out as the OBO had wished, but I've never seen a more competitive egg and spoon race. In hindsight, boiling the eggs might have made the risk of egg on my face solely metaphorical, but I've got most of it off now. We could all tell VVS hit it. I think hotspot should be replaced by me on referrals. I'm always right." Another stat: Not only is this is the first time the two leading run scorers in Test history have batted together since 1911-12 but, as Rob Smyth points out, if Dravid and Tendulkar put on another 25 runs between them, they will have overtaken Greenidge and Haynes at the top of the table for leading partnerships of all time. WICKET! India 119-3 (Tendulkar 16 c Strauss b Broad What a moment that is. Stuart Broad takes the ball after lunch and his first ball is over-pitched, allowing Tendulkar to tickle a couple through the covers. His next couple are wide and shorter outside the off stump, drifting gently away, and then he sends down a full toss, before a fourth outside off which Tendulkar leaves. But his final ball is a peach, drawing Tendulkar into a shot he didn't need to make, and he edges a simple catch behind for Strauss to claim in the slips. It was short and Tendulkar had a cross-batted swipe, trying to cut it, but the ball got slightly too big on him. 45th over: India 119-3 (Dravid 44, Raina 0) Dravid ignores much of an over from Jimmy Anderson, blocking when he has to, leaving the rest outside off stump. 46th over: India 123-3 (Dravid 44, Raina 4) England are attacking now. Broad's first of the over is down the leg side to the left-handed Raina and is close enough to the bat to draw some oohs and aahs as it flies behind to Prior. His next is full outside the off-stump, yorker length, and Raina hangs a bat at it, again nearly catching the bat. But Broad's third rears at him and he's exceptionally lucky to edge the ball over the slips for four as he fends it off. "So who were they then? Vic and I reckon Trumper and Hill," asks Selve about the last time the two leading run scorers in Test history have batted together. Yep, Trumper and Hill. Irrelevant now obviously. 47th over: India 129-3 (Dravid 45, Raina 8) Anderson hits Dravid on the fingers with a short one, and the batsman scampers down the other end, to allow Jimmy to come around the wicket and bowl Raina a bouncer. Two balls later, though, Raina looks a little more comfortable and he clips a concise drive to the cover boundary for four. "Well done Tom, a nice little stat on the Little Master and Dravid, and he's gone," emails Guy Hornsby. "Have you got any about Raina? That's a huge wicket for England and the resurgent Broad, who's a different bowler this series. It's like the head boy's gone to university and chilled out a lot more. The petulance is gone, but then that's what wickets and runs do for you. From a purely selfish point of view, I'd love to see Sachin's 100th 100 wait until at least, say, the 4th Day at the Oval. Not that I have a ticket for that or anything." 48th over: India 131-3 (Dravid 46, Raina 9) There is some movement this afternoon so far, Broad just finding some shape away from the right-hander. He sends down three outside off, two of which Dravid leaves before he drives the third. Trott, diving to stop it at mid off, lands hard on his shoulder and appears to be in a lot of pain. The physios run out to deal with what looks like a dislocated shoulder. He walks off, holding his left arm across his body and shaking his head. Broad carries on, sending in another short one to Raina, who uncomfortably flicks it to the leg gully position. He looks very uncomfortable against the short ball and is glad to scamper a single from the fifth ball of the over. 49th over: India 131-3 (Dravid 46, Raina 9) Jimmy's next over is better; where he was wayward before, this one is focused outside off, forcing Raina onto his back foot to defend. The ball, meanwhile, needs a quick hair cut, the umpires giving the seam a quick trim. Which is nice. 50th over: India 137-3 (Dravid 51, Raina 10) England moved the field back on the last ball of Anderson's over in an attempt to give Raina a single and so put him on strike against Broad. It didn't work, which is a shame for the home side, as Dravid clips the first ball of the over to third man for four to bring up his 50 in

131 balls. Bumble points out that he's spent an entire month at the crease over the total of his career. A quick single, to wide mid off, brings Raini on strike, who nudges one through mid wicket for another. WICKET! India 139-4 (Raina 12 c Morgan b Anderson Anderson sends down a filthy short ball nearer the car park than the off stump, which Raina chases and dollops straight to Morgan at point. A horrible end to a horrible innings. 51st over: India 139-4 (Dravid 51, Yuvraj 0) Anderson's first ball to Yuvraj - who hasn't played a Test for a year - is a beauty. Short, lifting and outside off, Yuvraj wafts a tentative bat at it while leaping in the air. The crowd, no doubt buoyed by a couple of lunchtime liveners, are beginning to get a bit rowdy now. "The thing to do is to generate new statistics in this match," emails John Starbuck. "How about something to do with injuries? They aren't usually shown in much detail in the official records so there's plenty of scope to be creative." This is the first time since 1500 that Trott has been forced off the pitch after Swann was off the field in a match at Trent Bridge in which Tendulkar was out for 16. That sort of thing? 52nd over: India 144-4 (Dravid 52, Yuvraj 4) Dravid clips Broad's third of the over to long leg to bring Yuvraj on strike. He latches onto a short, wide one and flays it to the point boundary. He attempts the same to the next ball, and it flies straight to Pietersen in the gully ... who drops a sitter. Yuvraj appears not to be in the mood to hang around, though after that missed chance, if he hangs about at the crease, Pietersen will have some explaining to do. 53rd over: India 149-4 (Dravid 53, Yuvraj 8) Anderson whistles one past Dravid's chin, before the India batsman steers one to mid on for a single. Yuvraj plays and misses at a short ball angled across him, then blocks tentatively, before pushing, but missing, another one jagging across him. The last ball of the over though is full, and allows him to drive expansively to the cover boundary. 54th over: India 152-4 (Dravid 56, Yuvraj 8) Despite the boundary, Yuvraj looks like a walking wicket at the moment. He seems nervous and jittery, liable to throw the bat. England will want to capitalise before he gets his eye in. The bigger problem is Dravid, who looks like he might bat until the end of the Test on this form. He takes two off his legs from the first ball, then leaves the fourth and winces as it cuts back and bounces just over the top of off stump, before taking a single from the fifth. 55th over: India 157-4 (Dravid 57, Yuvraj 12): Anderson is bowling short to Dravid so England have brought in a leg gully and short leg. They're attacking his body, getting him leaping about the crease, and he seems happy to flick a single to leg to get off strike. Yuvraj is batting as if he's on a pogo stick currently, he's playing every shot by leaping straight up in the air. It does bring him two, though, when he flicks one to leg, just wide of Ian Bell's hand at short leg. He follows it up with another two to deep midwicket. 56th over: India 158-4 (Dravid 58, Yuvraj 12): Tim Bresnan replaces Broad. His first over is steady, with Dravid flicking a single off his hips. Trott is sitting in the dressing room, shirt off and towel wrapped around his shoulders, moving gingerly. Doesn't look like he'll be back on the pitch for a while which means Swann might have to get over whatever it is that's bothering him, finger-wise. 57th over: India 162-4 (Dravid 59, Yuvraj 15): Ah, and here he is. Graeme Swann comes on from the Radcliffe Road End. Dravid tries to flay him through the covers but can't pierce the field. He does though grab a single - which might have been a four but for a fantastic diving stop from Broad. Yuvraj, meanwhile, looks a lot happier to facing a spinner. He bangs his first ball to cover for three with a flourish. And that's drinks. 58th over: India 162-4 (Dravid 59, Yuvraj 15): Mike Atherton offers some mitigation for the KP dropped catch. He reckons Trent Bridge is a tough seeing ground, the ball blurting out of the crowd. Having said that, it was a chance that should have been taken. But then, England's catching has been a bit down from their usually excellent standards. Bresnan bowls a tight maiden, throwing in a short wide one to tempt Yuvraj - which is duly does, the batsman has a desperate thrash outside the off stump and misses by a mile.

59th over: India 167-4 (Dravid 60, Yuvraj 19): A single from Dravid brings Yuvraj on strike. Swann offers him a short ball outside his off stump and he bludgeons it to the boundary with the minimum off fuss. It seems an odd time to bowl Swann, he hasn't been used all day and then, just as there's a batsman who'd prefer spin to pace, he's on. Oh. Having said that, Yuvraj has just had an almighty pull across the line, and missed it miserably. I'm surprised he didn't pull his shoulder out of joint with that sort of fresh-air hoik. 60th over: India 168-4 (Dravid 61, Yuvraj 19): Bresnan's fourth ball is stunning. Spearing in then jagging away violently as it bounces. Dravid would have to be an even better batsman to even get an edge on that, which gives you some idea of what the ball did. He nicks a quick single from the fifth ball after another solid over from Bresnan. "This is one of the better innings from Rahul Dravid, emails Previr Rangroo from, he says, Korea (presumably South but you never know). "He usually bats like a Dementor, sucking joy out of everything. But today he's been positive from the word go." Ish. 60 from 162 is hardly a Viv-esque positivity but, in the circumstances it's been decent. 61st over: India 170-4 (Dravid 63, Yuvraj 19): There appears to be some sort of competition in the Sky commentary box to out 'how nice is Rahul Dravid' each other. Botham, Warne and now Atherton are banging on about what a lovely chap he is. He knocks two through the covers then blocks. As Rob has just pointed out on Twitter: Only Bradman and Jardine have a higher Test average in England than Dravid's 74.26 (ignoring statistical freaks who played 1 or 2 games). 62nd over: India 170-4 (Dravid 63, Yuvraj 19): Bresnan sends down four decent balls outside off to Yuvraj, before his fifth cuts back into the stumps. The left-hander is equal to it, then blocks the next to see out a maiden. 63rd over: India 183-4 (Dravid 68, Yuvraj 27): From nowhere, Rahul Dravid spanks Swann over the field for four. A controlled swipe that was most un-Dravid like. A much more Dravid-like single follows, before Yuvraj has another hoik across the line at Swann, this time connecting and sending the ball whistling to the boundary. Finally, he wallops a more classical straight drive back past Swann for another four. Thirteen off the over, while Yuvraj has raced to 27 without anyone really noticing. 64th over: India 184-4 (Dravid 69, Yuvraj 27): If Swann's role is to hold up and end, it's not working. But if he's holding it up for Bresnan it's double not working because, though he's bowling very tightly, he is not looking terribly threatening either. Dravid works a single, then Bresnan tests Yuvraj with a couple of bouncers. An exam he passes with, I'd say, a B. 65th over: India 188-4 (Dravid 71, Yuvraj 29): First Dravid, then Yuvraj, then Dravid again milk singles as England push the field out. Trott is not going to be back out on the pitch to field today, and will have a scan to work out what he's done to that shoulder. "Intrigued by the description of your Twitter feed, Tom," writes Ryan Dunne. "I clicked hoping for mention of personal non-trendy dad-rock faves such as the mighty U2 only to be disappointed by mention of Kerrang! and Slipknot. Eh?! Curious if anyone's ever combined listening to Slipknot with watching cricket. Not very traditional, but sometimes I think that WWE style walk-on music for batsmen would be good too (block-n-sloggers could ironically choose 'Enter Sandman', for example)." The way Dravid's batting, Slipknot's All Hope Is Gone probably sums up how the England team are feeling. 66th over: India 190-4 (Dravid 71, Yuvraj 31): Bresnan sends down another short ball test; this time Yuvraj gets a D as he gets into a right old tangle with the ball eventually thumping into his chest. Undeterred, he flicks the next ball fine to fine leg and only a diving save from Graeme Swann - not fielding in the slips, presumably to protect his hand - prevents four. 67th over: India 192-4 (Dravid 72, Yuvraj 32): A single each from Dravid and Yuvraj as Swann seems a little off the boil. He's not getting much turn, nor much drift. "I bet KP has noticed Yuvraj's march past 27," sniggers Vibhanshu Bisht.

68th over: India 193-4 (Dravid 72, Yuvraj 32): An extraordinary ball from Bresnan - it takes off from wide outside off stump and flies over Prior's head, leaving Strauss to catch it high over his head with his left hand. "He must have kept wicket at some stage in his career to claim that," they query in the Sky box. I'm in a position to confirm he did: in the Under-13 team that he and I once played in at school together. Obviously my career has taken off since then, while his has festered somewhat. 69th over: India 198-4 (Dravid 76, Yuvraj 33): Dravid milks Swann for four, made up of two delicate singles and a cautious two, while Yuvraj sweeps hard but only for a single. Different approaches, different results. Music to listen to cricket by: "I was listening to Alex Metric's Essential Mix while watching the morning session yesterday," gurns Piers Barclay. "Quite surreal watching England try to dig whilst listening to a bit of pounding electro..." 70th over: India 201-4 (Dravid 79, Yuvraj 33): James Anderson is on again, this time from the Pavilion end. Dravid brings up India's 200 with a clip to deep midwicket for two, before he handles a short one dug into his ribs well by easing it around the corner for a single. Though this innings seems like a typical, walllike innings from Dravid, he's actually hit 11 boundaries - albeit only the one off Swann was a what you'd actually call a clobber. He's brought India to within 20 of England's total too now. 71st over: India 210-4 (Dravid 80, Yuvraj 41): Swann gets one to bite back from outside off, which Dravid just nicks around the corner. He trots a single but has to hurry when he realises he's knocked it straight to Bresnan who takes aim at the stumps at the bowler's end. Dravid just about gets home, but the ball misses anyway. Yuvraj, meanwhile, sweeps Swann hard to the square leg boundary, before striding down the pitch and belting one over midwicket, which Morgan fails to cut off - though he dived, his foot was on the boundary. Another expensive over from Swann, not sure this tactic is working. 72nd over: India 213-4 (Dravid 82, Yuvraj 42): Dravid casually runs a single off his pads after ignoring an Anderson bouncer. Yuvraj takes a single too, before Dravid avoids another short one, before playing the ball down from a ball angled into his ribs. He then nurdles another single from the last ball of the over. He could do this all day, couldn't he? 73rd over: India 215-4 (Dravid 83, Yuvraj 43): KP's on after a slightly below par spell from Swann. He'll be keen to get Yuvraj after, one, dropping him and, two, disliking him fairly intensely anyway. Dravid takes a single off the first then KP drops the ball short to Yuvraj, whose swipe through the covers would have earned him four but for a fantastic stop from Strauss. To Pietersen's fifth ball, though, he has an embarrassing swipe which balloons in the air to the vacant mid off area. A dreadful shot, really. Dravid blocks the last ball of Pietersen's over perfunctorily, and that's tea. TEA: India's session, from 30 overs, they hit 98 runs for the loss of two wickets. Rob will be back with the final session of the day, email him on rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk. Hello again. We thought this series might evoke 2005, but that comparison went a bit too far for England's liking this afternoon when Kevin Pietersen dropped a routine catch, just as he made a habit of doing against the Aussies six summers ago. The chance was offered by Yuvraj Singh, who is now looking pretty dangerous in tandem with the marvellous Rahul Dravid. India trail by six runs. It looks like it's secondnew-ball-or-bust for England. 74th over: India 217-4 (Dravid 84, Yuvraj 44) England could with Trott for these few overs before the second new ball. He is off the field with shoulder knack, and Swann will start. Two from the over. Is it too early to speculate who might come in if Trott is ruled out of the third Test? Bopara at No5 and Bell at No3 is one option. 75th over: India 218-4 (Dravid 85, Yuvraj 44) Pietersen will presumably bowl three overs for the second new ball. Yuvraj must be really tempted to go after him. He could get 20 or 30 runs in those three overs, but then if he gets out and exposes a new batsman to the new ball he'll be slaughtered. Such is the life of the

modern batsman. Hit lots of runs and don't get out, there's a good lad. Pietersen's third ball turns and bounces viciously from outside off stump, and that's enough to watch Yuvraj play respectfully for the remainder of the over. "Not overly impressed with Strauss's captaincy today," says Alex Stevens. "Coaches talk about cutting off really good batsmen's prime scoring areas, yet I think England had a third man for all of about 2 overs to Dravid. His wagon wheel says he's got about 30% of his runs down there, and even just looking at the way he scores, he seems to get a lot of runs down there. We'd worked over Raina to get Yuvraj in and looked like we were all set to repeat the trick (and had him dropped) when Strauss calls an ill-at-ease Swann in, and Yuvraj suddenly looked like he was away. And weirdly, I found myself in complete agreement with Sir Iron about the length of time Trott got to bowl." I think Swann had to bowl, because the other seamers were spent. I'd be very surprised if it was a tactical change. Agree about Trott and the third man, though. 76th over: India 223-4 (Dravid 89, Yuvraj 45) Dravid opens the face to guide Swann for three to third man, and those runs take India into the lead. Yuvraj then misses a violent slog sweep. I didn't see much of the afternoon session so I've only just clocked Swann's ODI-style figures: 10-0-51-0. "Who will seize the zeitgeist and decide when dadrock (65th over) become granddadrock?" says John Starbuck. "It's getting closer." 77th over: India 228-4 (Dravid 90, Yuvraj 49) Pietersen is more threatening than Swann at the moment. He beats Dravid from around the wicket with a good delivery that goes straight on, and then Yuvraj cuts a poor delivery for four. "They obviously won't do it, but I'd like to see Trott replaced by Hampshire youngster James Vince," says Ben Hendy. "He's scored well in a poor (in everything bar T20) Hampshire team, Fletcher likened him to a young Vaughan, and it would be good for youth to get a chance in a way it hasn't (for batsmen) since Cook, really. I know there are loads of good reasons why this won't happen and part of my reasoning is just Hampshire-based parochialism, but it doesn't stop me from wanting it to happen..." Talking of youngsters, how has James Taylor done this season? Surely he is the first mini-cab off the rank? 78th over: India 239-4 (Dravid 96, Yuvraj 54) Yuvraj clouts the ineffectual Swann over midwicket for four to bring up a punchy fifty. He is a really dangerous customer. It's only his second Test fifty outside the subcontinent, where he has had an appalling record. Dravid then jumps back in his crease to drive Swann wonderfully for four. That was a gorgeous stroke. Swann now has figures of 11-0-61-0. 79th over: India 244-4 (Dravid 99, Yuvraj 56) Three more singles for Dravid in that Pietersen over. He is one away from his 34th Test hundred. "Afternoon Rob," says Dan Lucas. "Remember when Bell used to turn his arm over occasionally? With Trott off wouldn't it be worth giving him a couple of overs before the new ball with KP looking ineffective? Speak of Trott, if he's ruled out of the next Test I'd love to see England make a brave decision and bring James Taylor in at No5, with Bell at No3. Admittedly I also feel they should drop Morgan and bring in another bowler, but then there would be the question of whether you have enough confidence in Taylor to slot him into a six-man batting line-up. I guess they would go with Bopara as the replacement, and he might do well against a Zaheer-less attack, but surely he's had enough chances." 80th over: India 258-4 (Dravid 113, Yuvraj 56) Rahul Dravid completes a glorious hundred, even better than the one at Lord's last week, with a lap for four off Swann. It's his 34th in Tests, and he's dominating the English summer just as much as he did in 2002. This has been an exemplary demonstration of the dying art of batting time. He almost falls later in the over, inside edging an attempted cut just past the off stump and between the legs of Matt Prior for four. He makes it three fours in the over, and 14 runs in total, with a fleet-footed slap through the covers. Swann had an X-ray last night; today he's got X-rated figures of 12-076-0. He kicks the stumps at the end of the over. Not a full Mikey Holding, but still a kick. He can probably said goodbye to a percentage of his match fee, tedious as that is. "At least he put the bails back, unlike I did," says Holding in the commentary box. 81st over: India 258-4 (Dravid 113, Yuvraj 56) England take the new ball at the first opportunity. This next hour is huge in the context of the match and indeed the series. If they are to have a chance of winning

this match England must clean India up for, what, no more than 350? Anderson's first over is a relatively innocuous maiden to Yuvraj. "On the subject of Bopara, it's worth noting that he's a decent bowler too," says Tom Hopkins. "For the first time, we've really missed that part of Collingwood's game today." Get Samit in. 82nd over: India 259-4 (Dravid 114, Yuvraj 56) Broad's first over with the new ball is a little wide to Dravid, who leaves at every opportunity and then works a straight one through square leg for a single. "Is it just me or do others prefer it when batters take their helmet off when facing a spinner?" says Matt. "Surely the opportunity to get out of the heat and see things a little better would be welcomed by anyone at the crease? I haven't heard of anyone being mutilated by a spinner?" No, I'm with you. It just feels right. Didn't Michael Clarke replace his helmet with the Baggy Green just before scoring his maiden Test hundred? That's a nice touch. 83rd over: India 259-4 (Dravid 114, Yuvraj 56) Dravid is drawn forward by a gorgeous outswinger from Anderson that beats the outside edge. The rest of the over is a touch too wide and, again, Dravid doesn't go there. "TMS have just announced Trott will take no further part in the match (not having Sky myself, this may be old news)," says Phil Sawyer. "I feel somehow this is all my fault, after taking the late decision on Thursday to get tickets for the fourth day. Oh well, at least I may be able to chew the fat with Naylor while the final England wickets tumble. If the match makes it to the fourth day." 84th over: India 262-4 (Dravid 115, Yuvraj 58) Dravid edges a beauty from Broad just short of Anderson at second slip. Dumb luck for Broad, who has been excellent today. In other news, apparently Mark Ramprakash has just been given out obstructing the field, and has a not insignificant cob on. Anyone know the story behind that? "I had the pleasure of watching Patel warming up during the Lancs/Notts match at Southport last week," says Phil Sawyer. "He really is a pleasing throwback to a more innocent, less full of 'increasing those tiny percentages', time. Now there's a man for whom 'warming up' means sticking something in the microwave." 85th over: India 266-4 (Dravid 115, Yuvraj 58) Yuvraj crashes a wide half volley through Morgan at deep point for four, and is then beaten by an absurd lifter that Prior takes high above his head. This Test is really similar to the one between England and India on this ground four years ago. "For the first, last and only time in the whole history of Sachin, you could probably say 'I wish that wicket had been the other batsman'," says Adam Hirst. "Dravid looks stuck at the other end, Tendulkar didn't." We tend to forget that there have been spells during which Dravid has been the undisputed No1, particularly from 2002 to around 2005. WICKET! India 267-5 (Yuvraj c Prior b Broad 62) The excellent Stuart Broad makes the breakthrough. He really is bowling beautifully in this series, and strikes with a fine lifter that Yuvraj edges through to Prior. Yuvraj made an excellent, punishing 62 to put India in charge of this match. 86th over: India 267-5 (Dravid 116, Dhoni 0) The next wicket is a huge one because India have an iffy tail, certainly on a pitch like this. Broad beats Dhoni first ball with a wonderful full-length leg cutter. He has figures of 22-6-46-2. They don't flatter him. "Dan Lucas mentioned dropping Morgan, and I'm afraid I'm coming around to that way of thinking," says Alex Stevens. "OK, he got a brute first innings, but against pace in t'corridor with any sort of swing he seems to struggle. Don't get me wrong, I reckon he's one of our better players of spin and should definitely tour in the winter. But given he jumped the selection queue with his ODI runs, perhaps it's only fair now that the selectors think about someone who's been getting county runs, like a Taylor. In short, Morgan's got to get runs second innings. In other news, earthworms probably don't spend much on shoes." We mentioned this yesterday. As I tell all my girlfriends when I sense they are about to dump me, you should be very careful before you discard someone who is blessed with genius. It's far too early to even consider dropping Morgan in my opinion. 87th over: India 273-5 (Dravid 117, Dhoni 5) There's some talk that Ramprakash refused to leave the field. Is this true? It's times like these when Twitter so nearly justifies its existence. Dhoni gets off the mark

with a big slice over the cordon for four As Mac Millings always says, if you're gonna flash, flash hard."With a career-best of 49 in all forms of cricket (if you keep out book-cricket), I cannot say anything on whether it is more glorious to take off your cap on reaching a milestone or does it feel better with a helmet," says Saurabh Bhattacharjee. "But having ended up with three stitches and a permanent scar after top-edging a sweep once in high school cricket, I can certainly testify that spinners can hurt a lot even though 'mutilating' may be a little excessive." WICKET! India 273-6 (Dhoni c Anderson b Broad 5) Dhoni's skittish cameo is over. He chases a full delivery from Broad and snicks it to second slip, where Anderson takes a smart catch. England are back in this. WICKET! India 273-7 (Harbhajan lbw b Broad) Broad is on a hat-trick and India have been DRSed. Harbhajan gets a huge inside edge onto the pads but is given out LBW by Marais Erasmus. That's a bad mistake. WICKET! India 273-8 (Kumar b Broad 0) A hat-trick for Stuart Broad on his home ground! He bursts one straight through Kumar and onto the stumps before setting off on an aeroplane celebration. He looks fairly calm actually, for a man who has taken a Test hat-trick. Broad was the last man out when Peter Siddle took an Ashes hat-trick last November; now he has a hat-trick of his own. It's a remarkable moment, and he holds the ball up to the crowd to celebrate his five-for. What a series he is having, averaging 69 with the bat and 11.66 with the ball. Many people wanted him dropped 10 days ago! 88th over: India 273-8 (Dravid 117, Sharma 0) A triple-wicket maiden. I believe the phrase is 'Test cricket? Bloody hell.' WICKET! India 273-9 (Dravid c Cook b Bresnan 117) This is now officially ludicrous. India have lost four wickets for no runs in eight balls Dravid, stuck with the tail, decides to hit out and slashes Bresnan straight to third man. He walks off to a deserved ovation for an outrageously good innings. India lead by 52. 88th over: India 279-9 (Sharma 0, Sreesanth 6) Sreesanth slaps Bresnan contemptuously over mid on for four. He doesn't do this, sadly. England's last Test hat-trick, since you asked, was Ryan Sidebottom in New Zealand in 2007-08. Today is also the 16th anniversary of Dominic Cork's hat-trick against the West Indies. "'Many people wanted him dropped 10 days ago!'" quotes Paul Bayley. "Yes, including most of the Guardian staff - hands up who didn't." Really? Not Bob. 89th over: India 283-9 (Sharma 0, Sreesanth 6) I wonder what Duncan Fletcher makes of this Indian lower order. Even he probably calls them the tail. That should have been a sixth wicket for Broad, but Cook put down a routine chance at third slip when Sharma fenced outside off stump. The next ball swerves past Prior for four byes. Every run is precious in a match like this. "Manlove charts: Broad 1st, the rest nowhere," says Andrew Hurley. "Just brilliant." 90th over: India 288-9 (Sharma 3, Sreesanth 7) Sharma jumps back in his crease to crack Bresnan behind square on the off side for a couple. "On Sky they're using the phrase "nicked off" all the time, especially Nasser," says Steve Churnin. "It's new, isn't it? At least tell me it's new for it to be so in vogue." WICKET! India 288 all out (Sharma c Bell b Broad 3) Sharma gloves Broad to short leg, where Bell extends a telescopic arm to take the catch at the second attempt. Broad finishes with Ambrosian figures of 24.1-8-46-6, the best of his Test career. He will never forget the events of the last nine days. So, India lead by 67 runs, and England have 11 overs to bat tonight. This Test is turning into a classic. INNINGS BREAK

1st over: England 0-0 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 0, Cook 0) Praveen Kumar starts with a maiden to Strauss. There was swing for him, but Strauss only had to lay his bat on the first delivery. England will just bat time until the close. These two did that a few times in the Ashes, but these are much tougher batting conditions. "Do you always get a load of abuse in the OBO inbox, and usually sensibly hit the delete button, or are your readers feeling particularly grumpy today for some reason?" says Andrew Palmer. "If so, what is that reason, as I'm quite chipper which is very out of character, and want to get back to normal as soon as possible." We never really get much. I understand why people say you should ignore it, but I suspect they would change their view if they had folk abusing them in the course of their 9-5. Except Chris Gayle. He'd laugh it up and press the button to make his chair go horizontal. 2nd over: England 4-0 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 0, Cook 4) Cook could do with a score (how weird it feels to type that), and he gets off the mark by timing Sharma nicely through midwicket for four. The next ball brings a huge shout for LBW. Sharma was going mental, flailing his hands all over the place at Asad Rauf, who said not out. Cook played defensively outside the line of a delivery that straightened a fraction from over the wicket. I thought that was out, but replays showed it was another marvellous decision from Asad Rauf. The ball was just missing off stump. Asad Rauf is having a storming series. 3rd over: England 6-0 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 1, Cook 5) Kumar goes around the wicket to Strauss, who gets off the mark with a quick single into the off side. "Wow," says Mac Millings "England may not win this Test, but the fact that they're in with a shout has a huge amount to do with what Mr. Naylor would call 'a good No8' - and 9 and 10, as opposed to India's apparent four 11s. Is it the fruit of a good selection policy, or the luck of having a fine generation of all-round cricketers? The state of Australia's latest squad as compared with their zenith suggests to me the it's mostly the latter." A bit of both I would say. Duncan Fletcher deserves huge credit for changing the culture of lower-order batting in England, but there's still an element of luck. WICKET! England 6-1 (Cook c Yuvraj b Sharma 5) Alastair Cook fails for the fourth time in the series. That's a massive wicket for India. Cook pushed around his front pad at a sharp delivery on leg stump, and the ball flew off a leading edge to Yuvraj at point. Cook has scored 20 runs in four innings, and I've no idea who will bat at No3 for England. What a Test match this has been. 4th over: England 6-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 1, Bell 0) Ian Bell wants to be England's No3. Be careful what you wish for and all that, because this could be a horrible little spell. His first ball is a cracking lifter that beats the outside edge. "Why do you say a side are 'all out' when manifestly not ALL are out, because there is that one lonely fellow moping about the wicket, wishing he had another partner," says David Hartman. "The volleyball term 'side out' seems much more accurate." Don't try to understand cricket. You've more chance understanding the opposite sex. 5th over: England 7-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 2, Bell 0) That was so nearly another wicket. Strauss drove at a delivery from Kumar that took the inside edge before going onto the pad and just wide of off stump. If England lose another tonight they are in trouble. We don't know for certain that Trott won't bat, but it must be unlikely. "How many of Crystal Gayle's working hours do you think would be spent awake to hear any abuse?" says George Wright. "I imagine he would get into the office around tennish, have a nap, sort of think about sending an email, bit of lunch, maybe get the email subject written, short snooze, hit the pub at four." He is brilliant. On Twitter the other week he announced that it was 3pm, that he couldn't be bothered getting out of bed, but did anyone fancy bringing him some cheese. 6th over: England 16-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 3, Bell 4) Dhoni's miserable series with the gloves continues when he fumbles a delivery from Sharma for four byes. It did wobble, in his defence. Bell then gets off the mark with a soft-handed steer through the slip cordon for four. "TMS have now softened their line on Trott and say he may bat tomorrow depending on the results of a scan tonight," says Phil Sawyer. "So, Ian Ronald in at first drop. I'm interested to know whether you think KP should have manned up and gone in at No3. For me, in this particular match situation, Bell feels like the right move but, as has been proved before, I am usually wrong." Nah, I like KP at No4 for a number of reasons. There's no

point prioritising displays of machismo over logic and reason. Look where that approach got the England football team. 7th over: England 17-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 4, Bell 4) Sreesanth replaces Kumar, which is a decent move at a time when England are intent on little more than survival. There's a bit of swing during a decent first over. We have 24 balls remaining today. "Not being familiar with any of the statistics websites, I wondered if you, or anyone else, could find out when the last time India were bowled out for less than 300 in the first three innings of a series?" says Brad McMillian. You don't have to go back too far: it happened in the West Indies last month. It might be tempting to conclude that the galacticos are turning into the geriatricos, but they have batted in some pretty difficult conditions. (Pluis Laxman and Dravid have batted delightfully.) 8th over: England 23-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 5, Bell 9) Kumar has switched ends to replace Sharma, and Bell does well to get his bat down on a low-bouncing inswinger. For a split second I thought it had cleaned him up. Bell times three through extra-cover from the last ball of the over. I'm not going to say he looks purposeful and confident. I'm not going to say that. "If the last man were to carry on batting he'd have to revert to the old method of scoring a run by running there and back," says John Starbuck. "It could be a useful innovation for the proposed timeless Test." 9th over: England 23-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 5, Bell 9) So now Sharma had switched ends as well. I'm sure Sreesanth is thrilled at being used as a kind of new-ball fluffer, bowling just one over so that the other two can change ends. Sharma's fourth over is a maiden to Bell. England have 12 balls to survive. 10th over: England 24-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 6, Bell 9) Dhoni makes his fourth bowling change in as many overs it's like a Twenty20 match with Sreesanth replacing Kumar. Strauss leaves the first ball on length, and it's maybe a bit close for comfort. As Mike Atherton says on Sky, that was reminiscent of that Ben Hilfenhaus LBW at Brisbane, when Strauss was on a pair. "At the risk of losing sight of what's important here (hubris), are we being overly critical of England's fielding and catching especially here after the impossibly high standards set during The Ashes?" says Dan Lucas. "I would say not, as if that was a 9.5/10 performance then it's fair to say that this 6.5 or so effort is disappointing. It's like Radiohead following Kid A/mnesiac with Hail to the Thief." It's a fair point but their catching has been more like The King of Limbs, an unfathomable mess. They have put some sitters down. 11th over: England 24-1 (trail by 43; Strauss 6, Bell 9) Strauss survives the final over from Ishant Sharma. It's the end of a delightful day's play that we will remember for three main reasons: Dravid, Laxman and Broad. India lead by 43 runs. Night.

Second Test, day three, Trent Bridge

England v India - as it happened

Ian Bell was run out and then reinstated by MS Dhoni as England took control by scoring 417 runs at Trent Bridge

Rob Smyth (morning and evening session) and Rob Bagchi (afternoon session) guardian.co.uk, Sunday 31 July 2011 05.18 EDT

Preamble Morning. These days everyone wants to be FIRST! We're a culture obsessed with the first: first impression, first match of the season, first meal (Paulie Walnuts says breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and wise men don't argue with Paulie), first date, first injunction, first pint after eight hours kissing the feet of The Man. In some contexts, however, the second is far more important. For example, a monstrous slab of lunchtime meat at The Hawksmoor trumps Frosties anyday, although you can tell Paulie that. Similarly, the second set of a tennis match is surely the most significant, when the contest is almost completed at 2-0 or comes alive at 1-1. That's the scenario we have at Trent Bridge today, where an excellent Test match will probably be decided, if not actually completed. Either England go 2-0 up or India level it at 1-1 with power, Sehwag and Zaheer to add. The English cricket lover in me is desperate for England to win; the Test cricket lover in me is equally desperate for India to win. Think about how empty 2005 would have been had Australia gone 2-0 up at Edgbaston, and not just because England were losing. Six years ago we had the best of both worlds an epic series and an England win. So this time we want India to win here, England to win by one wicket at Edgbaston and then by one run at The Oval, thus clinching the series 3-1 and going top of the Test Championship. Is that so much to ask? All that said, I suppose we could live with England winning by 114 runs here after a staggering 121-ball 132 from Eoin Morgan. Trottwatch He faced only two balls in practice this morning before going off for an injection. It seems very unlikely he will bat. Thought for the day This series is going to kick off very soon, isn't it? "Good morning," says John Starbuck. "It's been announced that Trott will bat though no-one knows what position yet." Crikey, that is a surprise. No10 or 11? 12th over: England 24-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 6, Bell 9) Sreesanth bowls the first over of the day, trying to draw Bell into a drive outside off stump. He declines, so it's a maiden. "First! (Sorry)" says Ryan Dunne. "Do teams still get the giant mace if they become No1 team in the world? Would it be put on display on Lord's or the like, or would Swann be allowed to play about with it for cool Twitter photos? I remember when Duncan Fletcher said (well, he would) that his achievements with England in the 00s far dwarfed anything the country managed in the 80s; could a case be made that England deserve serious plaudits (including more gongs from the Queen) if they reach No1, or has Test cricket overall declined too much from the heady days of 2005?" I think it'll be a huge achievement if England manage it. Fletcher was right; England were often hopeless in the 1980s. Scyld Berry wrote a fine piece on that subject in the very first edition of The Wisden Cricketer. And yeah, they do get the mace. 13th over: England 31-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 9, Bell 13) Some early swing from Praveen Kumar. Mind you, he could swing the ball in an airless bunker. Strauss tucks him through midwicket for three, and then Bell deliberately fiddles one to third man for four. England trail by 36, and will probably want at least another 285 runs in this innings. "What a glorious series this has been, like waking up after a huge bender on the first night of a holiday and realising you have no hangover, the sky is blue and you still have 5 nights to play with," says Guy Hornsby. "It's hard to recall it's only 7 days old. With Trott seemingly out, today is all about our Eoin. I desperately hope he gets a big score. Having an onsong Morgan in your Test side for the next six or seven years. Imagine that!" He should come out swinging today. Forget the technical concerns and the poor form and do what he does best: just hit the ball.

14th over: England 38-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 11, Bell 18) Bell lashes Sreesanth through the covers for four, prompting a cry of 'Shot!' from Strauss at the other end. He didn't quite do the full 'Ian Ronald Bell', like Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks, but it was still a nice moment. "Here on Star Cricket, Sunny and Ravi Shastri had a right go at Vaughan, Sunny wanted VVS to take Michael to court," says Vivek Radhakrishnan. "Entertaining rants by both of them. Where do stand on this issue, Rob?" I am saying absolutely nothing on this subject. Hell does hath fury like a woman scorned, and I suspect we'll witness it at some stage before the end of August. 15th over: England 42-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 15, Bell 18) Strauss drives Kumar pleasantly thorugh mid off for four. If I wasn't terrified of being savaged by twos of readers for tempting fate, I'd say England have started the day very promisingly. "Scyld Berry?" says Ali Kinnaird. "A name with no vowels? This is a first for me! Are there any other names with no vowels in them? Thank you." I can't think of any surnames without a vowel in them. 16th over: England 48-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 16, Bell 23) Another delightful boundary from Bell, this one pushed straight back down the ground off the bowling of Sreesanth. The ball is swinging a little, but the pitch isn't doing too much at the moment. We're not going to have a Test like this, are we? "Wasn't too long ago that the OBO was filled with please for rain, rain and more rain," says Aram Gumusyan. "Now there's heady talk of symbolic maces? Watch out for when The Man comes round, and his name is Hugh G. Bris." Nah, I'm not having that. None of us are saying that it will happen or that it deserves to happen, but it's close enough to make discussion of it entirely legitimate. It's not like we're rushing to the machine in the toilet just because a girl said hello to us. 17th over: England 48-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 16, Bell 23) A maiden from Kumar to Strauss. "Watched Trott having his hamstrings stretched," says Mike Selvey. "He was laid on the ground, with both hands behind his head, something I would have thought difficult if he was unduly incapacitated." 18th over: England 53-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 16, Bell 28) Bell is timing the ball extremely well this morning, and he touches Sreesanth through midwicket for another lovely boundary. Then he inside edges a defensive stroke onto the pads and through the vacant short-leg area. "Morning Rob, morning everybody," says Ben Hendy. "The discussion on Sky about Harbajan and India's other spin options made me think, beyond Swann, who should be England's next spinner in line? Should we be looking at Monty or another shall we say more mature option, or should we look to some of the young players coming through? I'm thinking of Danny Briggs, the 20 year old Hampshire spinner who's already taken 100 first class wickets and is also a bit of a star at T20. In general, England seem to have lots of young(er) players coming through but it's difficult to see when they will get a chance." A lot depends on when the opportunity becomes available. I thought England made a terrible balls-up by blooding Ravi Bopara away to Sri Lanka. Young debutants should, wherever possible, be given a fairly comfortable maiden series, ideally when they are in good form. Otherwise they can end up like poor old Ken Rutherford. 19th over: England 57-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 16, Bell 32) Bell chases a wide, swinging delivery from Kumar and is beaten. That was very similar to his dismissal in the first innings, in fact. The next ball is squirted to third man for four to bring up a vital fifty partnership. Bell has been excellent. Despite his huge improvement in the last 18 months, his career still lacks a defining innings. A matchwinning 502 not out today would be just the job. Kumar has a strangled LBW shout later in the over when Bell gets a big inside edge onto the pad. "I find a successful high five always ends with someone getting clouted in the face," says Fiona Dunlop of Sreesanth's accident last night. "Times like this I love the rewind function on TV!" WICKET! England 57-2 (Strauss c Dhoni b Sreesanth 16) Strauss has gone. It was a fairly gentle dismissal really, a defensive push outside off stump and a thin edge to Dhoni. The ball didn't do much, but the line was good and he probably had to play. Actually, looking at it again, maybe he could have left it. Either way, that's another nothing score for Strauss. His form is becoming a worry.

20th over: England 57-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 32, Pietersen 0) This is the partnership. With Morgan out of nick, India will be really confident if they can pick one of these up in the next half an hour. Sreesanth's first ball to Pietersen is a beauty that seams past the outside edge. "He's ticking" says Bumble on Sky. Sreesanth has suddenly gone up a level, and Pietersen has to dig out a yorker later in the over. An outstanding wicket maiden. "Now THIS is an impressive surname without vowels!" says Ryan Dunne. 21st over: England 63-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 37, Pietersen 0) Bell pushes Kumar down the ground for another charming boundary. It's great that we now trust him, even under the most asphyxiating pressure. A few years ago you could bet your highest hat on him failing when it really mattered. "I used to work at a hospital in Cardiff," says Kim Thonger. "There was a surgeon, whose name was Mr Ng. The closest approximation to the correct pronunciation of Ng that we could find is the noise a batsman makes when a new ball rises steeply from a length and hits him in the throat." 22nd over: England 63-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 37, Pietersen 0) A good maiden from Sreesanth to Bell. Shane Warne is in good form in the commentary box. The cricket brain on this one! "I respectfully disagree, Rob," says Tom King. "I don't think Strauss had any need to play at that delivery. He still doesn't know where his off stump is, but at least he's nicking off now rather than allowing the ball to clatter into it." I'm not sure. The more I see it the more I think maybe he didn't need to play, but it was a challenging line and these are split-second decisions. I certainly wouldn't say it was a bad shot. I agree generally about his off-stump issues, mind. 23rd over: England 67-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 38, Pietersen 3) It is, as Stanley Kirk Burrell didn't quite say, Sharma time. He will bowl well today. Pietersen pushes the first ball through extra cover for two to get off the mark; then he inside-edges a good delivery back down the ground, in the air but safe. "Speaking of breakfast, someone in the flat below me appears to be cooking pies, and the smell is making me ravenous," says Phil Sawyer. "Would it really be so wrong to skip the cereal and eat pies for breakfast (brunch to everyone else, I suppose, but hey, I'm fashionably late as opposed to first)?" I used to wonder what the rumpus was about eating lunch/tea meals at breakfast time. Then I saw a friend wake up on the sofa and calmly take care of an entire cold pizza. I've been a Frosties disciple ever since. 24th over: England 70-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 39, Pietersen 5) Bell crunches a yorker behind square on the leg side for a single, and that takes England into the lead. This game is poised as beautifully as Simon Adebisi's hat. Alex Coe asks when Yuvraj Singh will be brought on to bowl at Pietersen. That's a good shout; I had forgotten about that. Yuvraj is now loosening up. "I reject Mister Mxyzptlk as a made up name and not a cricketer," says Doris. "The challenge has to be to find a cricketer with no vowels. The Slovak cricket team all have vowels. Polish all seem to have vowels. Can anyone find a cricketer with no vowels? 25th over: England 75-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 44, Pietersen 5) Yuvraj is on, although to start with he is bowling to Bell rather than Pietersen. Bell punches a loose first delivery through midwicket for four. He has hit some lovely boundaries this morning. A single brings Pietersen on strike to his beloved pie-thrower; he charges his first ball and blasts it straight back down the ground and into the left foot of Yuvraj. There's a fascinating field, with a short extra cover and a short mid off right next to the bowler. Pietersen drives the last ball back down the ground, and Yuvraj shapes to throw it back whence it came, prompting a few oooohs from the crowd. This should be a lively 20 minutes or so. "Cricketers with no vowels," says Ed Rostron. "CB Fry?" A good try, but I doubt Charles Burgess Fry would allow it. 26th over: England 83-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 52, Pietersen 5) Ishant Sharma has switched ends, and Bell flicks a short one round the corner for his ninth boundary. The next ball is on the pads and flicked emphatically over square leg for four more. That takes him to a seriously good halfcentury, from 73 balls and with 10 boundary fours, as Bob Willis calls them. Bell might might be about to play a career-defining innings. A century in an England win would certainly make it the best of his career. "My breakfasts for the past three Saturdays: fry up; cold pizza which I stupidly reheated and ate soggy; leftover spaghetti bolognaise," says Dan Lucas. "So good." An orderly one, ladies, an orderly one.

27th over: England 84-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 52, Pietersen 6) Yuvraj continues to Pietersen, and he has a silly point to add to the close off-side ring. Just imagine the celebration if Yuvraj gets Pietersen here. He doesn't in that over, with Pietersen punching a single through the man at short extra cover. "TMS have a great riff going as listeners recount how they missed the hat-trick yesterday, while we're stuck with cricketers' no-vowel names," says John Starbuck. "Says it all really." 28th over: England 85-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 52, Pietersen 7) Pietersen tries to get on the front foot against Sharma and wears a superb lifter in the ribs as a result. That hurt him all right. He'll have a hot spot on his ribs by tonight. "Bell is batting like a dream," says Anand. "He is actually playing the Laxman sort of innings. Stylish, easy and quick runs. As an Indian supporter, I hope he goes after 50 just like VVS did. Hasn't it been strange that after the first day, the morning session of days two and three seem to be ideal for batting? Should we blame it on the roller?" Goodness knows. I've never really understood how the different rollers work. It's surely time to pitch a 4000-word monster on the subject to The Cricketer. 29th over: England 85-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 52, Pietersen 7) The Yuvraj Experiment that sounds like it should be a naff sci-fi show on Channel Five ends after two overs, with Kumar replacing him. Pietersen has started very carefully, although that's not really news any more. He flicks the last ball of the over for a single, and now has eight from 33 balls. "So," says Danielle Tolson, "did we ever find out about Richard Mansell's baby, the more light-hearted/less abusive dialogue from yesterday's play?" Ah, no, we didn't. Any news Richard? 30th over: England 90-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 54, Pietersen 10) Has anyone got a link to Star Cricket? Oh I wish I'd seen this. "Nasser and Ravi are having a blazing row on Star Cricket about DRS and what Ravi said about Nasser yesterday," says Vivek Radhakrishnan. "Debate continues, Rob." Brilliant. If there's one person who could take on the whole of Indian cricket and win, it's Nasser. Someone put that clip on YouTube, please. 31st over: England 97-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 61, Pietersen 10) A gentle wide delivery from Kumar is cut splendidly for four by Bell, who then edges just short of the man at gully. That was pretty close. "Bell's innings at Newlands was quite a decent one, under more pressure than he is today," says Daniel Harris. "Though he did ruin it by getting out. And by his mincer's highlights." You reckon the pressure was greater? England were still feeling their way up the table then, so defeat was a bit more tolerable. This is a huge match. Plus that saved a game whereas this could win one. 32nd over: England 109-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 72, Pietersen 11) Sharma's line has been dodgy today I told you he'd bowl well and Bell is able to take consecutive boundaries with a leg glance and a lovely glide to third man. This is now his highest Test score against India. Anyway, hjere's some exclusive footage of that discussion between Ravi Shastri and Nasser Hussain. Shastri's the one in the black T-shirt. "I've just emailed TMS to tell them I missed the hat trick yesterday because I was at the public library poring over old Wisdens, searching for cricketers without vowels in their names," says Kim Thonger. "It's a lie, but, I suggest, a plausible one. I'm taking wagers on the likelihood of them reading it out." 33rd over: England 115-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 77, Pietersen 12) Harbhajan Singh is going to replace Praveen Kumar. He's had a terrible series to date, averaging 4.00 with the bat and 120 with the ball, but he is a class act. Bell premeditates a lap for four. He is playing wonderfully. Inevitably, the moment I type that he is beaten by a terrific doosra. 34th over: England 116-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 78, Pietersen 12) It's not just the runs that Bell has scored that are important, but the speed at which he has scored them: he has 78 from 99 balls. Here's Vince Vaughan's take on Bell's innings. "Am really enjoying following the OBO from the wonderful WOMAD music festival," says Steve Illingworth. "Around the time Straussy got out this morning we broke

the world record for air guitar (over 2,200 if you interested). Have been doing my bit for Anglo/Indian relations watching songstress Susheela Raman who is billed as UK/India (and also with Tamil heritage so looks like I covered most of the Test summer.) Highlight today will be Booker T this evening who I'm hoping will blast out TMS signature tune by which time England will be 250 ahead with wickets to spare. A great day in prospect..." 35th over: England 122-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 83, Pietersen 13) As Mike Atherton points out on Sky, India's over rate is 12.5 this morning. I don't know how the over-rate system works in terms of a third strike. Should Dhoni be banned? Can you imagine how much it will kick off if he is banned? It was bad enough when they banned Sehwag ten years ago. Bell skips back in his crease and plays an exquisite back-foot drive for four off Harbhajan. Even if he is out next ball, this may well be the best innings of his Test career. He has played with elegance, serenity and formidable certainty. "Did the same people who used to forget to tell Adam Gilchrist that it was a difficult pitch on which to bat fail to tell Ian Bell the same thing this morning?" says Gary Naylor. 36th over: England 122-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 83, Pietersen 13) A maiden from Kumar to Pietersen. "Ganguly on Star Cricket is saying that he saw two England players speeding through the city centre last night 'doing more than 120'," says Ross Moulden. "No names so far, except that it wasn't Ian Bell." 37th over: England 128-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 84, Pietersen 18) Pietersen waves Harbhajan around the corner for four. Bhaji looks really down on himself at the moment. There's news on Jonathan Trott, who has a sprained AC joint . "In other words he has a sore shoulder," says Mikey Holding. England's lead is 61. "Go on then," puddemups Daniel Harris. "If Bell doesn't get it did today, someone else might, whether another batter, or a bowler or two when India bat next. On the other hand, Bell saved England in Newlands, and without him they'd have lost a fact that was clear throughout his innings. He's also the joint-least physically intimidating sportsman I've ever encountered in person (I say encountered, I mean see mincing in the street), along with Matthew Upson." 38th over: England 130-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 84, Pietersen 20) A quiet over from Kumar, and that's lunch. It's been a fine morning for England, who made 106 runs for the loss of Andrew Strauss. The star was VVS Bell, who made a wonderful unbeaten 84 from 106 balls to give England a lead of 63 runs. Thanks for your emails; Rob Bagchi will be with you for the afternoon session. LUNCH "The idea of Ganguly malevolently perched in Nottingham city centre on a Saturday night, armed with a speedgun, is an enticing one," says Lord Selvey of Lord Snooty. "Anyway, 120 whats?" I just want to know who has the hardest dad. Afternoon all: My morning ambition of trotting down to Drummond Street for an all you can eat trough in the 40 minutes available petered out when I realised it was going to take me at least 15 minutes to get there, 20 minutes to get back and five minutes to make a dent in their profits. So I abandoned it but may make a second attempt tomorrow. A wonderful morning for England but it's all about Nasser v Shastri/Ganguly this lunchtime. Dan Barker emailed Robbie Smyth with this observation: "Before anyone jumps up and down about the England boys allegedly pulling a Lewis Hamilton, can we stop to check that Ganguly wasn't using the same speed gun which once claimed that Ryan Sidebottom was bowling above 90mph?" Gary Naylor has first-hand experience of the difficulties the Prince of Calcutta faces in standing up his story, which, given I didn't hear him tell it, may have been delivered tongue in cheek: "Individuals, even cars, cannot be identified if they are travelling at 120mph (or kmh) unless the observer is going at roughly the same speed. I know - I've belted up to Trent Bridge on the motorbike at, well, a bit under 80mph, and you can't see the faces of people you pass - you can barely identify them as male or female!" On the overrate issue Michael Hamilton sniffs a conspiracy where there isn't one: "Who would preside over any decision to ban Dhoni? The match referee? A certain Mr Broad..." It's Ranjan, the man, this Test, Michael. Old Walter doesn't do England matches for obvious reasons.

39th over: England 136-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 88, Pietersen 21) Ishant Sharma starts and MS Dhoni spills his take for a bye first ball. I wonder if Tendulkar might be worth a bowl. Of his 45 Test wickets, only two have come against England but they were Mark Ramprakash and KP, golden arm dismissals both. An update from Richard Mansell on additions to the clan: "Good Lord. A Test hat-trick yesterday, and now I am INVITED to email OBO!! Folks, pretend to have a baby: it's a sure-fire way of getting your email published. Actually, there is a real baby boy, sleeping right now next to his sleeping mother. We are in UCH (they've been amazing), recovering from a successful caesarean. Only managing to catch up on OBO now! Thanks for the enquiry. (By the way, As a semi-neutral, I am loving this series. So finely poised! It illustrates why Test cricket is the pinnacle of sport)." Bell squirts four to the vanact third man area. More old school grumblings about the lack of a fielder there from Nasser 32% of Bell's runs have come with an open face down there. Nick Donovan emails in with more local knowledge: "Doing 120 in any part of Nottingham City Centre would mean ending up with a super hero/cowgirl/sumo wrestler on the bonnet." Ah the stag/hen scene. Newcastle, Nottingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Bristol, Wakefield. I think I'll stop in. 40th over: England 141-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 88, Pietersen 22) Kumar rattles through his overs but with MS standing up byes are coming freely. Arvind Ramanan has a thought on Ganguly and his Shaw Taylor tendencies: "In response Gary Naylor's take on the whole speeding thing being very difficult to spot - Gary Naylor should probably keep in mind that unlike us ordinary people, Ganguly made a career out of tracking fast-moving objects and deflecting them someplace. Ganguly could have identified the driver alone. Viv Richards would've even got the colour of his hair and the amount of stubble the driver had." Pietersen takes a single, ever watchful while Praveen is hooping it. 41st over: England 142-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 88, Pietersen 23) Pietersen's ability to play shots on the walk defensive shots I mean to, as he says, "take lbw out of the equation" are remarkable. He takes a middle and off guard steps even further to off. He then has a huge swish at a big swinger and misses by a mile and is whacked on his pad fourth ball but is so far across no appeal is necessary. Bounce him, says Nasser, but Sharma keeps to his gameplan and takes the ball in return off an ond drive. 42nd over: England 145-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 89, Pietersen 25) Dhoni retreats, mindful of the extras, so Pietersen stands another few inches out of his crease and almost squares himself up with one that shapes away that he's trying to clip through midwicket. Oh, Mac. "If your readers don't want to fake having a baby, here are some other sure-fire ways of getting on an OBO (or MBM)," writes Mr Millings. 43rd over: England 150-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 89, Pietersen 30) Pietersen's walkabout continues. Bruce Chatwin would write about this well. Perhaps I never finished Songlines, I'm far too thick. Pietersen creams four between midwicket and mid on and blows out his cheeks. Slightly soporific air to the start of this session until Bell chases one outside off stump then pulls his bat back at the last moment. 44th over: England 151-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 89, Pietersen 31) Hussain and Manjrekar are questioning the absence of Bhaji from the attack, wondering whether he has gone over the hill in Test cricket at the age of 31 when he should be coming to the peak. Kumar, meanwhile, is keeping Bell and Pietersen honest, playing straight with their contrasting techniques as the late movement attempts to bamboozle them. 45th over: England 163-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 89, Pietersen 43) Now Pietersen steps outside off stump again and tickles it round to fine leg for four off Sharma. He tries a shorter ball next up, which Pietersen misses on the pull, but not the next which he hooks for four square off the front foot to post the hundred partnership. This is getting ugly for India but good fielding at point from Mukhund saves a third four as Pietersen cover drives. Last ball, Ishant aborts his run up in the deliverys stride when Pietersen shuffles forward with intent and the batsman gets his third four of the over eventually with a brutal crossbat hoick of an ondrive.

46th over: England 166-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 91, Pietersen 44) Three singles off Kumar's over as he continues to maintain his line with a touch of swing. John Starbuck makes me feel better about ditching the Chatwin early: "Don't bother with the end of Songlines. It's so contrived it makes you doubt the preceding pages all the more and you'll feel very let down." 47th over: England 170-2 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 94, Pietersen 45) Any other "great" books you didn't finish, or regret wasting your time on? And don't all say Beyond a Boundary. Harbhajan's back on at last and Pietersen uses his feet to clip one to mid on. "Could you please stop posting by how many we trailed in the 1st innings and post what the lead is now? Thanks," writes David Wolfe, Emeritus Professor of Physics University of New Mexico. You'd be a quicker calculator of that than me, David. But next over I'll make the change. 48th over: England 179-2 (England lead by 112; Bell 98, Pietersen 50) "In Patagonia, on the other hand, " writes Selve, in dialogue with John Starbuck. Pietersen brings up his half century with another clip off Kumar. The milking is well underway and Bell steers a drive backward of point to move to 98 then chases a big swinging wide long hop with an air-hook but misses. 49th over: England 179-2 (England lead by 112; Bell 98, Pietersen 50) " Why isn't Sreesanth bowling?" asks Mac Millings. "Nine overs today isn't enough. He looked good this morning. The horse is bolting." It has, Mac. Doesn't make sense at all. Harbhajan's line and length is much better this over, sticking to an off-stump line, drifting slightly in. Robin Lynch has a nomination: "The Brothers Karamazov; full of pages and pages about the state of the Russian Orthodox church in the mid19th century. Not much in the way of a story. Gave up after 200 pages." Crime and Punishment, I loved. And the Idiot. Glad I read them when I was young. Couldn't face them now. Tom Hopkins wrestled with something I knew was not for me: "Lord of the Rings for me - twice. Both times defeated by Sam and Frodo wandering around in the wilderness for about 200 pages. Skipping straight past all the poems and chunks of elvish (there are plenty of languages out there, there's really no need to make up a new one) helped, but it wasn't enough." 50th over: England 186-2 (England lead by 119; Bell 104, Pietersen 50) And Mac Millings' wish is MS's desire. On comes Sreesanth and Ian Ronald posts his first ton from first wicket down with a delicate turn to long leg, followed by tip and run. Anand Kumar is feeling a sense of despair those Dostoyevsky novels were made to elicit: "It's all going downhill for India. This seems eerily similar to the afternoon at Lord's when Prior and Broad smashed us everywhere. KP and Bell are top notch batsmen and I can understand that it is difficult to get them out but allowing them to score at more than four an over is not excusable. That has hurt India. A top ranked test team should be allow opposition to score this freely and so regularly!" Piers Barclay has an entry: "I read about three hundred pages of Gravity's Rainbow, and I swear I didn't know who any of the characters was or what the hell was happening. The thought of the other 700 or so pages was distinctly unappealing. I'm still angry at the time I wasted reading it. Thomas Pynchon has a lot to answer for." 51st over: England 190-2 (England lead by 123; Bell 108, Pietersen 50) Bit of bounce from Bhaji to Bell, keeping Iron on his toes but then a shorter one gets belted in front of square on the legside. Huw Spanner's reading was censored, in the manner of Lady, Don't Fall Backwards: "I read four-fifths of Forever Amber when I was a teenager, before my dad found out, declared it was too 'smutty' for my innocent young mind and made me take it back to the library." Here's Selve again: "Don Quixote. I gave it my absolute best shot and made the end of the first part. But lost the will after that. Incredibly funny though for all that." I thought that read "made the end of the first par" and thought Cervantes must have been flying to be that funny that soon. Two votes for Moby Dick from Sarah Whatman and Jonathan Chilvers. 52nd over: England 199-2 (England lead by 132; Bell 118, Pietersen 50) Holland have beaten Yorkshire so Sky picked a shot of MP Vaughan and Sir Geoffrey in the TMS box not looking chuffed. Netherlands knocked off the runs with 13 overs to spare. Steve Banjo checks in: "Horrified though some will be, I've twice tried to read A Hundred Years of Solitude and both times given up halfway through. Too many

characters, too remote, too uninvolving, too odd. I still managed to ace an essay on it at university, though, as with many of the 'great' novels I never actually read. I always got bad marks for essays about books I really loved. I find it's much easier to be dispassionately analytical about things you don't, in truth, much care for; much harder to express the many interconnected reasons you adore something you adore. This may also explain why I'm 35 years old and still unable to hold on to a girlfriend for more than three weeks. (That, and the fact that I prefer to spend my Sunday afternoons writing to OBO rather than going on lazy walks in the country with some hottie.)" And the use of the word "hottie" I suspect, Steve. Bell steers another to the third-man boundary but MS won't plug the gap, much to the consternation of Sir Beef. 53rd over: England 208-2 (England lead by 141; Bell 119, Pietersen 57) Harbhajan's wither got cramp or he's a pilates practitioner, going down between balls to stretch his hips. He's creamed for four behind square leg as he's milked for nine off the over. Stick Sachin on. Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom, Selve's twigged that Sreesanth looks like Little Richard. Or Richard, as he likes to be know these days. 54th over: England 213-2 (England lead by 146; Bell 120, Pietersen 61) Gravity's Rainbow is winning so far. Here's Mike Wallace: "I was also 200-300 pages in and although I didn't know what was going on either, but it passed the time and I quite liked it. I then lost said book. Not sure I can face it again It's there on the shelf taunting me as I write this." Peter Hanes has an excuse: "Regarding Gravity's Rainbow, I had problems reading it first time round, mostly because I found that there was an error in the printing causing a chunk of 200 pages from early in the book to be repeated later on. I recommend Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace for an easier read." Overt To Alex Brownlee-Stokes: "To pick up on Piers Barclays comment about Gravity's Rainbow, if it's any consolation to him I got within 200 pages from the end and gave up in frustration; mind bendingly weird that book. Pynchon's V was a far better novel, in my humble opinion. Another mention must be made for Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged - I 86ed it after only 86 pages; Americans amongst us will understand the numbers reference." Pietersen is bothered by the windows above the sight screens again and steps away. Danielle Tolson has a message for Richard Mansell: "Good news on the baby I still think "Bravo', although proven unisex, should be in the mix if we're going contemporary cricket-flavoured." How about just initials. CB, MS, JWHT, MWW? "The Good Soldier" offers Wayne Trotman on the sweltering west coast of Turkey. "Truly dreadful stuff. Said to be one of the best novels ever written; after three attemps, I've never got past page fifty." ANd apologies to Sarah Watman: "My vote was for Dickens, not Moby Dick! I think you might need a can of Relentless to see you through to tea. How about a "Come on Audley Ducks" to make up for it?" Go on then. But can't agree on Dickens. I'm a Tony Wellerist. 55th over: England 219-2 (England lead by 152; Bell 124, Pietersen 63) My long lost mate Liam Sluyter, who once proclaimed himself likely to be as happy as a cat in custard if we gave him a job many years ago, corresponds: "I'm assuming with India strangely drifting out of this just now (though god knows this game can turn THAT on it's head) I've enjoyed the unfinished books thread. I've had at least three goes at Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Get about 50 pages in, finding it interesting and all that, but then kind of think can I really be arsed with the rest of it? I'm pretty sure there's not going to be any sex in it." An absence of sticky moments, unlike Jaws, the novel, Liam. This is run-a-ball dairy batting from England and India have begun to look despondent. WICKET!! Pietersen c Dhoni b Sreesanth 63 But despondent no more. Pietersen chased a wide one, looking to larrup it on the up and feathers and edge through to Dhoni. 56th over: England 219-3 (England lead by 152; Bell 124, Morgan 0) Rash shot fells Pietersen, though he did seem to be getting rattled by all the movement by stewards behind the bowler's arm for the past 20 minutes. Bell, meanwhile, is in imperious touch, provoking a debate between Atherton and Botham over his new maturity and how dropping him in 2009 has been the making of him. It's his patience, more than anything, applied to those wonderfully soft hands that brought him his first century at first-wicket down. I'll leave it for Smyth to celebrate his innings appropriately later. Several emails have claimed the OBO has been dumbed down this session. What to do?

57th over: England 221-3 (England lead by 152; Bell 125, Morgan 0) Praveen Kumar is jogging back to his mark between balls and summons up three slips for Morgan. They feel he has a weakness outside off because he's crouching lower and his trigger movement leaves him unbalanced. 58th over: England 223-3 (England lead by 152; Bell 126, Morgan 2) An Indian correspondent is praying for Sreesanth to launch a Broad spell "for the good of the game". Interesting thought, slightly biased, perhaps. Morgan gets off the mark with a tuck off the hip. Three off the over. 59th over: England 232-3 (England lead by 165; Bell 126, Morgan10) If Kumar is so keen to boost the over-rate, why aren't the other bowlers. In he comes again, jogging back to his mark. Morgan hist his first boundary with an open face through point, then another, more of a streaky-steer off the edge to third man. Spare a thought for Keith ALlman: "You should all consider yourself lucky. As preparation for a post graduate course I've got to read 15 god awful contemporary teenage fiction books about goblins, vampires and Christ knows what else. The thought of struggling through 300 pages of some pseudo-intellectual nonsense has never seemed more tempting. Even 10 minutes with the scorecards in Wisden would be a treat." 60th over: England 236-3 (England lead by 169; Bell 130, Morgan10) Ben Hendy asks the OBO, instead of Hadley: "OBI dumbed down? Does this get it back on the right track: sock wearing with shorts is it OK? I've just done my weekly shop in shorts and, lacking shoes suitable for the no-sock look, was wearing socks which stop below the ankle. Is this the best choice? Should I go without socks regardless, or should I say to hell with it all and wear a long sock pulled all the way up?" Never wear sandals, would be my advice. So, what do we think would be too much for India to chase? 275? 300? Bell scores another classy boundary with a flick/push. I love watching people score boundarues without whacking the cover off the ball. He French cuts the last ball to Dhoni on the bounce though, having misjudged the lift. 61st over: England 236-3 (England lead by 169; Bell 130, Morgan10) Maiden from Kumar. "Dumbed down?" writes the cricket correspondent. "Dickens, Cervantes, Moby Dick, Brothers Karamazov, Gabriel Garcia Marquez etc. Where would the works of Katie Price figure then?" Modern classics? 62nd over: England 240-3 (England lead by 173; Bell 131, Morgan 13) Ishant is back on and bending his back, 19 overs before the new ball is due. Bell takes one off the first ball but the rest of the over is dedicated to trying to cramp Morgan and tempt him to have a prod outside off when he sets him up with one he can free his arms to go at. That sucker ball is pushed too wide, though, and Morgan leaves it. He tucks in to take three off the last ball. "I got through 500 pages of 567 page novel Germinal by Emile Zola before my book was pinched off a pavement cafe table while I went to the toilet." says Euan Phillips. "Serves me right for being such a pretentious twat I suppose, but god knows what kind of profile my French realist literature loving thief fitted!" 63rd over: England 246-3 (England lead by 179; Bell 134, Morgan 16) Suresh Raina gets to turn his arm over. And Mikey Holding is harrumphing at this change, given they've got Morgan to put to the test. Distinct lack of flight from the occasional offspinner but he's trying to bowl wicket to wicket but they push him through the infield fairly easily to move the strike rate ever upwards. More from Richard Mansell on young MWW Mansell: "Idiot OBO reader David Stranger-Jones decided to tell my wife, much to her puzzlement, that people on Guardian OBO were asking about the baby. I had some explaining to do. She took it in good humour, unlike the name suggestion of Bravo." 64th over: England 248-3 (England lead by 181; Bell 135, Morgan 17) Vamshidhar Guthikonda puts Bruce Chatwin back at No1: "I pride myself on completing books - even ones I have left mid-way earlier on in my life like Catch 22. In Patagonia is one of the two books that I never completed. And I did not regret that one bit. The other that I did not complete - is If on a winter's night, a traveller by Italo Calvino. It was so plodding and so convoluted. I am glad I did that, I remain sane to this day until I hear Shastri ranting about disgrace and chest beat on jealousy. That makes me insane. What an idiot." Good over from

Sharma, coming round the wicket to Morgan. Sloppy fielding has hindered India this session. Heavy legs, heavy shoulders. 65th over: England 250-3 (England lead by 183; Bell 136, Morgan 18) Raina continues, pushing the ball through, nothing too shabby but he doesn't look at all threatening. A single to each batsman. Steffan John has news from the fiction department, or the weather centre as its known: "BBC Weather predicts 'Thundery Showers' on Tuesday, and maybe some on Monday too. If they want to win, they should declare after another 100 runs. A draw means that India only have to win one test to still be number one. After all, what would (a decent) Australia do?" WWAD? or WWSWD? where SW is Steve Waugh. I'm going to have that engraved on a brass bangle. 66th over: England 250-3 (England lead by 183; Bell 137, Morgan 18) Ishant Sharma bowls the last over before tea, pretty much on the money until the fifth ball that Bell turns off his ankle to long leg and the sixth is hit by Morgan to square leg, where it's brilliantly pulled back into play without it hitting the boundary. The batsmen assumed it (was four but it wasn't) and walked off for tea. The Indians then removed the bails. We're having a replay now. Wicket!! Ian Bell run out 137 Tin hat time. It took six minutes to decide that the ball wasn't dead and for the umpires to ask whether India wanted to uphold their appeal. MS Dhoni who lobbed the ball to the fielder to dislodge the bails said that it was a genuine appeal and so, Bell was given out. Never assume, is the lesson, and by the letter of the law he was out. That's not going to prevent the bad blood spewing forth this evening. TEA: England 254-4 (England lead by 187; , Morgan 18) Great session for England. Stormy end to proceedings. Contact Rob Smyth with your views. Thanks for your company for the two hours' dumbing down of a serious institution. Hello. I didn't catch the afternoon session. Did I miss much? There are a few precedents for this incident: Collingwood/Elliott, Murali/New Zealand, and especially Tony Greig and Alvin Kallicharranl, which is mentioned at the bottom of this article. Rob Bagchi has sent this interesting quote from Greig with regard to that incident. What about the much-criticised run-out of Alvin Kallicharan on the stroke of the close of play in Trinidad? "Just watch the footage - I was correct, no question. It was the last ball of the day and I was in close, at silly point, to Bernard Julian, who pushed the ball back down the pitch. I turned to pick it up and saw Kalli, who had backed up, just carry on walking to the pavilion. I ran him out with a direct hit, fact. I got a hammering from people like John Woodcock and Henry Blofeld but they had no idea. The game had long graduated beyond 'the done thing', you can't just wander out of your crease." There are two points to make, I think A) All bets are off for the series now; it will probably descend just as nastily as the Australia/India series in 2007-08. B) Let's talk about what the match rather than the Bell run out. If we discuss this it will turn into a risible slanging match. My opinion is that it was air-headed from Bell, and bang out of order from India. If they withdraw the appeal, on the grounds that it was not an honestly earned wicket, we wouldn't be in this sorry mess. I completely understand why someone would take the opposite view, however. MS Dhoni has withdrawn the appeal and Ian Bell is coming back out! This is sensational news, and a triumph for the spirit of the game. Well done to MS Dhoni; that really is a wonderful gesture, and a classy

one too because it takes balls to go back on your original appeal. India were booed onto the field, and now MS Dhoni is getting a round of applause! Only in cricket. 67th over: England 260-3 (Bell 138, Morgan 27) Morgan pulls the first ball of the session, from Raina, for four. "Incredible sportsmanship," says Ed Packard. "The India team can be hard to love for non-Indian supporters (beyond major respect for the team's many talents), but that is a remarkable act by Dhoni and I hope this sets a new tone for the rest of this series in the media and amongst fan comments from both sides (which often veer towards the playground mentality), as it seems the players themselves are getting on much better than India's last visit here." Yeah, it's such a classy gesture from an astonishing man who keeps finding new ways to surprise us. He'll probably take seven catches in the session now. 68th over: England 269-3 (Bell 138, Morgan 35) Morgan gets consecutive boundaries off Sreesanth, the first with a superb cover drive and the second with a glide to third man. 69th over: England 272-3 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 139, Morgan 37) It's hard to concentrate on the game. There's a great discussion on Sky between QC Mike Atherton (representing the laws of the game) and QC David Lloyd (representing the spirit of the game). They are totally in agreement on one thing: the umpires played a blinder. "I think another question has been answered," says Tom Hopkins. "Welcome to the world Mahendra Singh Mansell." 70th over: England 287-3 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 144, Morgan 46) Morgan punches Sreesanth past point for four, and then crunches another boundary through midwicket. He has quietly raced to 46 off 55 balls. This is his value to the side; he scores at a game-changing pace. Bell completes an expensive over 15 from it with a tuck to fine leg for four. "Wouldn't it be a good idea if Ian Bell reciprocates by sacrificing his wicket?" says Mike Harrison. Why on earth would he want to do that? Besides, it could then turn into the sort of struggle you usually see when two old Irish ladies argue over who will pay the lunch bill: Bell saying he's out, MS Dhoni saying he isn't, and repeat, and fade. 71st over: England 293-3 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 144, Morgan 52) Morgan reaches his fifty in the grand manner, swiping Harbhajan magnificently down the ground for six. Another interesting twist in the Bell incident (please can we not call it Bellgate, or runoutgate, or teagate. Please): on a popular socialnetworking fiasco, Jonathan Agnew says that India changed their mind after being approached by Strauss and Flower. At the risk of sounding like a news presenter who takes myself a smidgin too seriously, that report is unconfirmed. "A far cry from the time when Michael Vaughan's wicket was claimed by India for handing the ball to the close in fielder," says Vibhansu Bisht. "But then, Michael Vaughan probably deserved it." Ah, yes, I forgot about that. India hearts Michael Vaughan. 72nd over: England 294-3 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 145, Morgan 52) When Collingwood upheld the appeal for the run out of Grant Elliott in 2008, Gary Naylor argued insightfully that it actually cost England the game, because they were so distracted thereafter. Well India look distracted by doing the right thing, and England are accuring runs pretty comfortably at the moment. "I see nothing noble about the decision to let Bell stay," says J Myall. "It was simply the right thing to do in the circumstances. I'm hearing all kinds of nonsense from the TV about it "changing the way cricket's played" and "a new era for the game". Ha! Cricket's pretty much always been played in the right spirit (hence the expression "It's not cricket") and I reckon India did no more than save face after making a truly idiotic decision to claim the wicket." I'm not sure about that. There are a helluva lot of captains who wouldn't have withdrawn that appeal. 73rd over: England 297-3 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 148, Morgan 54) Sky have also said that Strauss and Flower were the ones who reached out to Dhoni and Fletcher. Then Dhoni discussed it with his team before deciding to withdraw the appeal. Mike Atherton also makes a good point: the innings of Ian Bell's life has now been completely overshadowed. "I don't want to sound a sour note, but I'm disappointed in Dhoni," says Gary Naylor. "His team played the whistle when there was no sign whatever that the ball was definitively dead, nor that over had been called. Bell and Morgan knew something was awry else they

would have gone back to the middle to be best placed to make their case. I like Test cricket because it's a hard man's game the opposite of Sunday afternoon cricket. Bell and Morgan made a mistake and have got away with it purely as a result of misplaced generosity. The hard game has just gone a bit soft." You're a hard man to please, Naylor. I understand the view, but I don't agree. Does that make one of us a total idiot? Isn't that how this works? 74th over: England 303-3 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 150, Morgan 55) Bell drives a single to reach a mighty 150. India are almost going through the motions, with the second new ball now just six overs away. That second new ball blew the game wide open 24 hours ago, and India need something similar to happen just as it did on this ground four years ago, when the second new ball was taken and England collapsed from 287 for three to 333 for nine. 75th over: England 306-3 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 151, Morgan 58) The two part-time spinners are on, Yuvraj and Raina. England are milking them for low-risk singles like it's the middle overs an ODI. They lead by 239. "Actually, Rob, per Vibhansu Bisht, Vaughan was given out for a genuine, though unnecessary handled the ball, NOT handing it to a fielder," says Martin Crookall. "He went down on one knee to sweep, only dragged the ball down between his legs, got disoriented and brushed the ball away, only to find from the TV replays that it wasn't rolling onto the wicket after all." 76th over: England 310-3 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 153, Morgan 60) "All credit to Dhoni for withdrawing the appeal" says Sam Korn. "Many captains would not have done (apparently including Hussain and Atherton...). It should not have been up to Strauss and Flower to ask Dhoni to do so, however the umpires should have urged Dhoni to withdraw the appeal. 'Are you still appealing?' was weak and disappointing not nearly enough." It's not the umpire's place to say another stronger than that. They simply cannot go round telling people what to do. In terms of how they dealt with the players I thought their performance was immaculate. 77th over: England 316-3 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Bell 153, Morgan 65) Morgan demonstrates his uncanny gift for placement, pulling Raina between the men running round from long on and deep midwicket. Cheers for all the emails, most of which I haven't had chance to read yet. As you'd expect, some of you think this is "sanctimonious rubbish", others that the right decision has been made. Paul Weaver has written a blog on the subject, where you can discuss it. Play nice, eh. This is a great spot from Thomas Hopkins. "I.Ron does seem to have an uncanny ability to undercut his defining innings," says Tom. "Top score - 199 against SA ended by the softest caught and bowled imaginable. Finally gets an Ashes hundred - DRS controversy on the way. Now this. It's a gift really." And almost all of his other hundreds came off the back of an earlier hundred. Poor old Ian. WICKET! England 323-4 (Bell c b Yuvraj 159) To call this buffet bowling is an insult to cold meat. Bell reverse sweeps Yuvraj for four to bring up the hundred partnership... and now he's out! So much for buffet bowling. Bell tries to cut the quicker one from Yuvraj and is caught at slip by Laxman via the gloves of Dhoni. That was a fine reflex catch, excellent bowling from Yuvraj, and a wonderful innings from Bell. For the record, he made 22 runs in his second innings. 79th over: England 326-4 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Morgan 69, Prior 1) "That so many Indian players went to Ian Bell to congratulate him on his innings shows enormous class," says Gary Naylor. No surprise that Rahul Dravid was at the front of the queue. What a class act he is. 80th over: England 329-4 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Morgan 70, Prior 3) I'm all over the place. Sorry. That was a really big wicket for India, chiefly because it means they have a new batsman in against the new ball. Which is now due. "What incidents like this do is take cricket back to a 'good' place," says Joe in Kyoto. "Tony Greig is correct the game had moved on, but not in a good way. India have ensured that England will never be able to do something unsporting again for a very long time and with luck other teams will take heed as well." Hear hear. All this stuff about playing hard, I don't know. People who jump queues,

or smoke in no-smoking areas, could say they are "playing hard". They're not; they're behaving like arseholes. There is a line, and usually you know when it has been crossed. WICKET! England 329-5 (Morgan c Dhoni b Kumar 70) The new ball has an immediate impact. Kumar really has the wood on Morgan, and picks him up second ball with an excellent full-length outswinger. Morgan, pushing defensively, thin-edged it through to Dhoni. That was as fine delivery. India are right back in this. What a game it has been. 81st over: England 334-5 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Prior 7, Trott 1) Jonathan Trott has come to the crease earlier than we expected. He survives a huge LBW shout first ball. There were two issues a possible inside edge and whether he was outside the line. Replays show no inside edge, and that he was probably in line. I reckon that was out, and Hawkeye confirms it hit him in line and would have hit the stumps. Trott was more than 2.5 metres down the track, but that would surely have been given if we were using DRS. Trott then gets off the mark with a one-handed scoop into the leg side. Prior then eases Kumar through the covers for four. On the one hand it's good for India to have a new batsman in against the new ball; on the other hand that man is Prior, who will counter attack and use the pace of the harder ball. 82nd over: England 339-5 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Prior 11, Trott 1) Prior slams a wonderful drive through extra cover for four off Sreesanth. If he is still in at the close India will be right out of this game. "Marais in the deep stuff again with an LBW," says John Starbuck of Trottgate. "That could have been a repeat hat-trick." Good spot. WICKET! England 339-6 (Trott c Dravid b Kumar 2) Trott would have struggled to play this if he was fully fit. It was a nasty delivery that popped from a length and took the glove on its way to first slip. As Sanjay Manjrekar says on commentary, this seems to be very much a new-ball pitch. 83rd over: England 339-6 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Prior 11, Bresnan 0) The new batsman Tim Bresnan survives a huge LBW appeal from Kumar. I reckon it was just going down leg, but it was very close. Replays show it was hitting the outside of leg stump, so it would have stayed with the umpire's call. "With all this talk of of sportsmanship, generosity etc, does anyone think that Dhoni simply did the logical thing?" says Mark Jessop. "If he stuck to his guns and won, the win would be devalued by many and the stigma would stay with him. Stick to it and lose (perfectly possible with a few runs from Morgan, Prior, Broad and a decent bowling performance from England) and the stigma is even worse. It was a lose/lose, wasn't it?" It might well have been that, but I prefer to assume the good in people. At least until I meet them. 84th over: England 347-6 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Prior 19, Bresnan 0) Prior looks really dangerous her. He walks across the stumps to flick Sreesanth extravagantly for four. Sreesanth has a few words, so Prior has a few back. Apparently Dhoni is getting pelters back in India. The modern world is no country for good samaritans. "What a gargantuan measure of the man the game of cricket is," says Guy Hornsby. "I'm afraid I have to disagree with Mr Naylor here, and while I realise that on the OBO that's the equivalent of wearing a Sex Pistols God Save The Queen T-shirt on Royal Wedding day, I think we have to remember it's not 1982 any more. We play the game hard still, but I have no problem with cricket erring on the side of sportsmanly these days. I think it's no less tough-willed to be able to redeem in the right circumstances. I can't think of any reason why we'd want to return to the days of Shakoor Rana, LBW appeals every ball, bad blood and festering resentment. This is about great, competitive cricket, not anger and sniping. That's why it's the SPIRIT. Simple." 85th over: England 348-6 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Prior 19, Bresnan 1) Kumar is bowling a magical little spell with the new ball, and has another huge appeal for caught behind against Bresnan turned down by Marais Erasmus. It squared Bresnan up completely. Dhoni decided not to review the decision, and replays showed it hit the pad rather than the bat. The next ball hits the bat then the pad, which negates what whould otherwise have been a very good LBW shout. I think I'm falling in love with Praveen Kumar.

86th over: England 348-6 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Prior 19, Bresnan 1) "What do you think England need here?" says Andrew Hurley. "I am thinking 360/370, and even then it would be game on if they didn't take early wickets." Not a clue. You'd want 400 to feel comfortable. This reminds me a little of the Edgbaston Test against South Africa in 2008, when they chased around 300 with only five wickets down. 87th over: England 357-6 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Prior 24, Bresnan 5) Prior guides Kumar to third man for four to bring up the 350, and then Bresnan pushes another boundary down the ground. England's lead is 290. "Just to add one final nugget of information on MSD," says Anand. "The IPL team he plays (proud to say it is my home city), Chennai Super kings also won the fairplay award in the IPL. Might not be a coincidence! Just a bit more to chew on!" He is a remarkable man, one of the most interesting in modern sport. 88th over: England 362-6 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Prior 25, Bresnan 9) Sreesanth digs in a wide, short delivery and Bresnan slaps it zestily up and over the cordon for four. "Lloyd and Atherton were talking about if it had been Tendulkar on 138 not out," says Adam Hirst. "What would have been funnier if it had been Tendulkar on 99 not out and about to get his 100th hundred and England had claimed it. That may have got us a cricket war. Personally, I think Bell was stupid and deserved to be out. I remember Derek Pringle wandering off to do some gardening after a no ball, and being run out. He deserved to be out for stupidity too. India have been robbed of a wicket." And they robbed themselves. 89th over: England 366-6 (Prior 29, Bresnan 9) Ishant Sharma comes into the attack and is flicked through backward square leg for four by Prior, who has 29 fromn 27 balls. This has been a splendidly emotionless counter-attack from Prior. Nothing personal, just business. "How exactly do you ask someone to retract an appeal?" says Tom Hopkins. "It's a given that the first word out of Strauss's mouth was 'Look', but after that? I'm imagining Ian Bell on his knees 'MS! I'm praying to you! I can't be run out....wandering off like it's teatime! Like a dumb animal! I CAN'T BE RUN OUT WANDERING OFF LIKE IT'S TEATIME! Look into your heart MS! Look into your heart!'" 90th over: England 370-6 (Prior 32, Bresnan 10) Prior carts a short ball from Sreesanth through midwicket for three more, and England's lead is up to 303. There are 11 overs remaining today. Thanks, meanwhile, to Linto Sebastian Thanikkel for sending in this audio link to the earlier rumpus between Nasser Hussain and Ravi Shastri. "Do you think you could go back to giving the lead?" says Jeremy James. "Taking away 67 from every score is giving me a headache." Afraid not, I'm not clever enough to remember to update it at the end of each over. "Sunil Gavaskar and CMJ are having a love in about what a gentleman Doni is and how oafish it was of the English not to applau Dravid's hundred." Did they not? Why not? 91st over: England 381-6 (Prior 39, Bresnan 14) Another boundary to Prior, pinged beautifully through midwicket from Sharma. It's a brilliant cameo from Prior, 39 from only 32 balls. Bresnan drives another boundary through the covers off the back foot, and England's lead is now 314. "On TMS Agnew is saying that Flower and Strauss went to the Indian dressing room in the tea interval to ask them to withdraw the appeal," says David Wall. "I know that's the proper way to do it, for the captain to take the lead, but it make me think of Mr. and Mrs. Bell going round to ask their next door neighbour if they can have little Ian's ball back please after he knocked it over the garden fence and was too scared to go himself. No matter how hard he tries he'll never lose that image of being easily intimidated and a little meek. Shane Warne has a lot to answer for." I know what you mean he looked hilariously sheepish as he came back onto the field although if anyone was going to reach out, it had be the capo. 92nd over: England 393-6 (lead by 326; Prior 48, Bresnan 17) Prior hooks Sreesanth very fine and all the way for six. This innings is so good that it would be sacrilege not to use the word Gilchristian. "Could I just mention," says Keith Flett, "that Prior had an award-winning beard." Maybe he's the beardy Samson, because he's batting magnificently just now. In other news, the ECB Chief Executive David Collier has HAD HIS SAY on the Bell incident.

"The withdrawal of a valid appeal at the tea interval was made in the spirit of cricket by the India team and demonstrates the true spirit in which the game of cricket should be played and the excellent relationship between the ECB and BCCI. "The npower Test Match Series has produced excellent and exciting cricket. The 2nd npower Test Match will also now be remembered for demonstrating that that the spirit and the manner in which the game is played provides a role model for others to follow. "On behalf of the ECB I wish to express the England and Wales Cricket Board's grateful thanks the BCCI and the India team." 93rd over: England 408-6 (Prior 57, Bresnan 22) Prior completes a disgustingly good 38-ball fifty by smashing a piece of filth from Sharma through the covers for four. It's been an outrageous assault on the new ball, and he ends a 15-run over by pinging a full delivery through midwicket for four. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. England have scored 154 runs in 27 overs since tea. One of the interesting things, as a few of you have made, is that the spirit of cricket is selective a point that Duncan Fletcher often makes. But so is the spirit of everything. It's impossible for any other situation to exist, surely. There are far too many factors for things to be black and white. You can only use a combination of instinct, judgement and values to decide when you think the line has been crossed. Which, in this case, some of us did and some of us didn't. "It's just an opinion," Brian Clough used to say. "Makes the world go round." 94th over: England 409-6 (lead by 342; Prior 57, Bresnan 24) Bresnan fiddles at an outswinger from Kumar and is beaten. "I just got an email," says Dan Lucas, "with the subject 'Mac Millings is now following you on Twitter'." This was Dan's reaction when he read the email. 95th over: England 415-6 (Prior 58, Bresnan 29) Yuvraj is coming on to bowl his left-arm spin. Prior's assault has left India winded and shellshocked. They just want to get off the field. The runs continue to flow, with Bresnan cutting vigorously for four. There are six overs remaining on what has been a long and slightly crazy day. "The match will finish 30 minutes late again due to slow Indian bowling," says Ian Hawke. "Imagine the explosion now if MS Dhoni was banned for that..." I would suggest that, after today's events, there is more chance of Mac Millings becoming the face of Diesel than there is of that happening. 96th over: England 418-6 (lead by 351; Prior 59, Bresnan 29) "For some reason, most people seem to be missing the critical issue," says Mark Hughes. "Kumar's body language suggested it was a four. He unintentionally misled the batsmen by ambling back over the rope and throwing the ball back. I'm certainly not suggesting that he realised this but it would be unfair for a fielding team to profit from accidently misleading the batsmen. I'm not sure if there are any precedents of fielders returning the ball without knowing whether or not it has passed the rope. Anyway, good on India." Agreed. Even before you consider the spirit of cricket, there were so many unusual aspects that it would have been difficult to claim the wicket with a completely clear conscience. Did the umpire call 'over'? Did India even appeal? Was Bell trying to get a fourth run? It was a very unusual incident, and the eventual outcome was the right one. In my opinion, obviously. 97th over: England 422-6 (Prior 62, Bresnan 29) As with his hundred seven days ago, Prior's running between the wickets has been brilliant today. He bolts for his first run, and that puts such pressure on the fielders. He looks remarkably fresh, whereas India look very weary. "Hi Rob!" mwahs Steve Churnin. "Any chance of a gratuitous mention? Just that a pal of mine enjoys sending me vitriolic abuse regarding the anaemic nature of my OBO contributions, and Id like to irritate him further if at all possible. Cricket, eh? Indeed. x" The 'x' was the clincher. 98th over: England 426-6 (lead by 359; Prior 62, Bresnan 34) Bresnan's Test batting average is now 34, Broad's 29 and Swann's 24. They would have been the England middle order in a different era. Bresnan clips Kumar off the pads for four, the last of which is the 400th run of the day. What a daft day it has been. "All very well to laud the 'spirit of cricket' as demonstrated by the players on the pitch but it's pretty

disingenuous to credit the relationship between the ECB and BCCI pooh-bahs as somehow partly responsible for the outcome of That Incident," says Sarah Bacon. "I mean, who do they think they are?! Gods?" They should give themselves a payrise. 99th over: England 431-6 (lead by 364; Prior 63, Bresnan 38) Bresnan slugs a short ball from Sharma through square leg for yet another boundary. Kumar is sledging Prior, a mischievous smirk on his face. Now the pair of them burst out laughing. Kumar is fantastic. "He's a ripper isn't he?" says Bumble. Kumar has added so much to this summer. "Is the spirit of the OBO also available in draught?" asks Ian Copestake. It'll be available tonight, that much is for sure. 100th over: England 437-6 (lead by 370; Prior 64, Bresnan 43) Bresnan flicks Kumar off the pads for four more, the 57th boundary of the day. "Mac's new career as the face of Diesel has taken something of a wrong turn," says Ian Copestake. 101st over: England 441-6 (lead by 374; Prior 64, Bresnan 47) Bresnan hits one more boundary for the road, clattering a weary half-tracker from Sharma through the covers. It brings up a wonderful hundred partnership. When did the England lower order get so crazily good? Those are the last runs of a day we won't forget in a hurry. England took control of the match by scoring a whopping 417 runs, but it's the run out of Ian Bell who was reprieved when MS Dhoni withdrew his appeal that will be the main story tomorrow morning. Don't know about you, but I'm spent. Night.

Second Test, day four, Trent Bridge

England v India - as it happened

England went 2-0 up in the series after thrashing India by 319 runs at Trent Bridge

Alan Gardner (morning session) and Rob Bagchi (afternoon and evening session) guardian.co.uk, Monday 1 August 2011 05.02 EDT

Preamble: Are we all strapped in? And more importantly, are we all paying attention? Yes, Master Bell, at the back, I'm talking to you. Yesterday, controversy ballooned rapidly into farce and there's bound to more to come from this most rambunctious of Tests. You know what to do if I type BRACE! ... To summarise the Bell incident (and while I won't resort to the -gate suffix, you're welcome to present your suggestions): young Ian Ronald left his backdoor unlocked and had his wicket burgled (though, let's be clear, the theft was entirely legitimate within the laws of this particular society); Bell, understandably a bit miffed and doubtless well aware that his insurance would be void, played dumb, with the equivalent of the neighbourhood watch, the two Andys, going round to India's gaff to ask for the swag back. To the delight of all involved, MS Dhoni recognised the breach of civil spirit and duly consented. Thus, sport was the winner. Er, right? Anyway, you can vote and comment on the matter with our dandy poll - so keep the abuse to the usual level on here, thank you please. There's a cricket match going on as well, you know!

Perhaps the most important line to note from this morning's coverage is the one in Mike Selvey's report that states only three sides have scored more than 300 in the fourth innings at Trent Bridge. England have a firm grip this match and, should they go on to win it, they'll be breathing heavily on the collective neck of their world No1 opponents. "Should we call the Bell incident The Bell Clanger?" suggests Bob O'Hara. "Much better than -gate." Mmmm, that does have a certain ring to it. *Cough* The meteorological 411 from Nottingham is that there is some cloud cover above Trent Bridge and, as Beefy explains out in the middle, the conditions are somewhat sultry. England, with Matt Prior and Tim Bresnan in the middle, will look to crack in the same manner as they did last night, when they took the match away from India with a hundred partnership in less than 20 overs, and then get things swinging with the ball. Controversy aside (and we haven't even mentioned Vaseline yet), this has been a terrific match, hasn't it? England 124-8 at tea on Friday after a superb India start with the ball; Stuart Broad's rearguard; Dravid's hundred in the India innings followed by the whirlwind riposte of Broad's hat-trick; then Bell's magnificent effort at No3 and another brutally effective contribution from Prior. Is it too much to ask for some more of the same today? 102nd over: England 450-6 (Prior 65, Bresnan 55) England lead by 383 Sreesanth is the man with the cherry in his hand and a maniacal look in his eye and we are off. Prior is also on the move, advancing on Sree's first delivery and swiping a single out to deep extra cover. It's time, also, for our regular segment: What's Beefy's Beef? England chose to use the heavy roller this morning and, so Botham worries, should India do the same before the start of their innings, the pitch may well come to resemble a road (not quite in the Cormac McCarthy sense but still pretty lifeless). Anyway, Bresnan reaches fifty with a thick edge down to third man - from a ball that reared up off a length - before punching a more authentic boundary down the ground. That's the 450 up for England. WICKET! Prior 73 c Dhoni b Kumar (103rd over: England 458-7) Having meted out some early punishment to Praveen Kumar, flicking four down the leg-side and crunching another drive to the rope, Prior just fenced at one outside off and got a thin edge through to the 'keeper. Despite SirIan's worry, there does seem a little something out there for the bowlers. 103rd over: England 459-7 (Bresnan 55, Broad 0) England lead by 392 Praveen's first ball to Stuart Broad is called a wide on height. England shouldn't worry too much if things come to a rapid end this morning, as the conditions look pretty ripe for bowling ... Here's Jonathan Fortune: "I've just been informed by a colleague that this isn't the last day. I've been excitedly scouring reports of yesterday and couldn't understand the lack of declaration speculation. I'm slightly less excited about the prospect of the day now, seeing as we're going to have a good 5 sessions at them. How can so much have happened in 3 days, and when will they stop confusing the easily confused with Test matches starting on days other than Thursday I've a suspicion that television and money are involved somewhere." 104th over: England 460-7 (Bresnan 56, Broad 0) England lead by 393 Sreesanth has found his line of beauty and he gives Bresnan plenty to think about on or around off-stump. Thanks for all the emails suggesting we replace -gate with -end in the Bell matter - you've proved the OBO readership has emphatically still got it. "Maybe he was thinking of all those scones and sandwiches laid out on the table?" says Martin French, who then gets his big stirring spoon out. "Seriously though, the umpire taking the sweater off his shoulders was a clear indication that tea was being called. The body language all around the wicket said the same. If India had gone ahead with the appeal they would have been booed for the rest of the Test, and rightly so."

105th over: England 463-7 (Bresnan 58, Broad 1) England lead by 396 Kumar requires some strapping on his big toe but he's all right to keep coming in a wobbling the ball off a good length. He does Bresnan with the final delivery of the over, which the batsman tried to force slightly cross-batted through the onside only to see it loop out into a vacant area near point. "This Test series has reopened all the wounds of the away tours I suffered as a teenager supporting the Indian team in the 90s. The wickets that we get now almost seem to be out of kindness. Do I have OBOers who understand and feel for me?" I'm not sure empathy is in great supply round these parts, Anand. Though plenty know kindness that feels cruel. 106th over: England 470-7 (Bresnan 65, Broad 1) England lead by 403 Bresnan windmills those big arms through an angled cut that fairly races away for four - he's done a job, hasn't he, after coming in for Chris Tremlett? England really have terrific depth these days. "One of my favourite cricket watching/listening moments was Fred Trueman's approach to commentating when he used to star on TMS back in the 1980s," writes John Culley. "As England threw winning positions away (if they ever reached them) he would become increasingly unimpartial and eventually explode with a 'I don't understand what is going off out there'. Is there an Indian equivalent of Fred and if so, has he been saying those immortal words for the last three days." Have the Indian commentariat been critical of Dhoni's side so far in the series? They certainly haven't looked much like the No1 team in the world thus far. 107th over: England 473-7 (Bresnan 66, Broad 3) England lead by 406 Now, this looks a bit rum for England - Stuart Broad is limping around (having correctly grounded his bat and waited for the ball to be called dead) after running a quick two. Brezzie lad would really have his work cut out if it was just him and Jimmy fit to bowl (what with Swann's hand injury). "Has anyone else made the "Bell went like the clappers for the dressing room" joke? If not, why not?," demands Bill Vincent, who is about to get on a roll. "And, incidentally, if he was replaced by a look-alike the replacement would be a ringer, wouldn't he? As for India, it cost them 22 runs but they, and the sport, gained far more they'll be remembered with affection whatever happens from now on in the series unlike other touring sides, notably Pakistan who always seem to manage to leave a sour taste behind them. Being No 1 means more than being the top side. Err, well at least I know what I meant."" 108th over: England 484-7 (Bresnan 75, Broad 5) England lead by 417 A productive over for England, with Bresnan twice picking up fours off Sreesanth - though the second came via an inside edge of a welldirected yorker. "At what point did MSD and others recall the so-called spirit of cricket? According to reports, they were asked twice on the field if they wished to appeal and then presumably would have thought nothing more of it until the Head Boy and the Games Master came around?" Gareth Johnson makes an interesting point. "Seems a little rich to claim that the entire team decided in the spirit of the game that they did not want to uphold the appeal as there were quite a few high fives when they were leaving the field 20 minutes earlier ... in the spirit of the game surely they should not of appealed in the first instance and then openly celebrated the result? Just very fortuitous that it was the last ball before tea and everyone had 20 minutes to think about it ..." I think the right decision was made in the end - but you're right, the process was certainly very messy. 109th over: England 495-7 (Bresnan 76, Broad 15) England lead by 428 This partnership has raced to 37 off 38 balls, with Broad now giving it the long handle, twice smashing Kumar's trundlers over the infield for boundaries. India still seem quite subdued - the whole run out farrago seems to have affected them far more than England. "Please tell Anand (105th over) that I share his pain," says Arvind Ramanan. "The pain of South Africa 96, Australia 99, England 96, New Zealand 2003 etc. The cycle of pain would be complete if in the fourth innings, an Englishman (most probably Stuart Broad) Mankads the last Indian bastman with 4 balls left in the day for a draw. I wouldn't put it past this England team. Also, regarding the Indian equivalent of Fred Trueman - Krish Srikkanth played that role during the 2003 World Cup. He famously said 'Ganguly should bat at no.13 for India', when asked about the best batting position for the captain. He is the chairman of selectors now, mainly because they wanted to shut him up I like to think." 110th over: England 499-7 (Bresnan 80, Broad 15) England lead by 432 We're well into highest successful fourth-innings run chase territory, here, though England are content to land a few more punches

before coming in. Another thrash for four from Bresnan takes them to the brink of 500, which is a truly remarkable turnaround after the events of day one. I should be more shocked than I am, which I fear suggests a worrying level of complacency slipping into my game ... 111th over: England 504-7 (Bresnan 84, Broad 16) England lead by 437 Bresnan is actually closing in pretty rapidly on what would be a maiden Test hundred - though he did make 91 against Bangladesh on his first tour. Ishant Sharma comes on to bowl and Bresnan pings another boundary - he's bounding along like a Yorkie with his favourite chew. "I was recalling all those tours to England where we expected to lose and weren't ever surprised when it happened. This time we expected to run England close and instead have been shown the boot serves us right for our lack of preparedness. Its all due to those lofty expectations. Cant we be a No1 and the underdog?" Shankar Mony smells hubris - though both sides are probably guilty of it. 112th over: England 514-7 (Bresnan 85, Broad 25) England lead by 447 Yuvraj Singh, who has actually been bowled more than Harbhajan Singh in this innings, which sums up India's problems, comes on, only to be dismissed twice to the rope by Broad. "Would someone care to approach the Strauss and Flower on my behalf and ask them to put us out of our misery," wails Anand. "For the spirit of cricket, humanity and all other spirits?" 113th over: England 520-7 (Bresnan 86, Broad 30) England lead by 453 England's No8 and No9 are stomping all over the India attack, like Godzilla tearing up Tokyo. Broad cuts Sharma hard through point for four more, leading Shane Warne on Sky to turn to food analogies: "You need a side order of french fires and some garlic bread with this bowling," he chuckles. Though that may have just been a request to the Trent Bridge catering team to bring up a snack, I don't know. 114th over: England 534-7 (Bresnan 86, Broad 42) England lead by 467 Now this really is buffet bowling and England are gorging themselves. Suresh Raina gets rocketed for two almighty sixes over midwicket by Broad - "that's just throw downs," mutters Mieky Holding, disdainfully. Warne has cheese steaks on his mind, probably. "When my brother joined the police service many years ago one of his fellow cadets had 'Dozy' written on his cap by his colleagues and wore it for a long time without realising, before being notified by senior staff (it was a very rural police force). Time to re-nickname Belly?" It fits the required, 'somethingy' template, John Starbuck. But who would play the other Seven Dwarfs? 115th over: England 538-7 (Bresnan 90, Broad 42) England lead by 471 A relatively quiet over from Sharma sees just one boundary, and that will be drinks. I could do with some isotonic pep myself - I do love electrolytes. Anyway, the world's No1 team are currently writing cheques that their players can't cash and an England win now looks just a question of when rather than if. "With the strength of England's batting line up right down to 10, the question must be asked: is this the best tailend ever?" wonders Lawrie Jones. "Far from capitulating at every juncture like England of old, the side are comfortable rotating strike, scoring quick, free flowing runs from wonderful cricket shots. As well as improving no end the quality of our side, they provide better value for money too." Ain't modern life just great? WICKET! Broad 44 run out (116th over: England 540-8) A brilliant piece of fielding gets rid of Broad. Yes, a brilliant piece of fielding by India! Broad called the run, after pushing to mid-on, but Wriddhiman Saha, the back-up wicketkeeper on as a substitute fielder, swooped on the ball and his direct hit left the batsman well short of his crease. WICKET! Bresnan 90 c Dravid b Kumar (116th over: England 540-9) A length delivery jumps like a salmon off the pitch as Bresnan played forward, taking the shoulder of the bat and looping all the way out to Dravid, who took an excellent diving catch in the point region. Again, though, the sight of the pitch doing that might just get the England bowlers' collective dander up. 117th over: England 541-9 (Swann 1, Anderson 0) England lead by 474 India's best hope may be to seriously rough up both of these two, in the hope of reducing the England attack to Bresnan, a hobbling Broad (though he did look to have recovered from his strain) and perhaps IR Bell's part-time dobbers. With

Swann's left hand already well strapped and part-time bowler of choice Jonathan Trott suffering shoulder knack, India just need to catch Anderson a smart one on the bonce and their chances of batting out five sessions would be greatly increased. 118th over: England 543-9 (Swann 2, Anderson 1) England lead by 476 Now this is an incongruous sight - we've had two overs of proper nip-and-tuck battle between India's bowlers and the last two English batsmen, with a lead of nearly 500 on the board. If Swann and Anderson aren't going to give it some tap, then someone should probably call them in, no? Jonathan McCauley-Oliver knows the correct response in these situations: "Bah! Typical England batting collapse two wickets in as many balls. Rubbish!" 119th over: England 543-9 (Swann 2, Anderson 1) England lead by 476 "Since things are going well, I thought I'd have a moan," announces Piers Barclay - and it's only right and proper that the OBO gives such dissenters a platform. "I don't know if Botham/ Boycott is saying this already as my headphones broke, and I feel that just broadcasting TMS/Sky in the office may be frowned upon. Anyway, why are we still batting? If Swann/Anderson gets injured now we'll feel very silly. It's lunacy! Strauss out! Flower out! We've got no chance of becoming the best team in the world with these two in charge ..." That's a maiden for Ishant and already there is word that revolutionary sentiment is being fomented by anti-ECB radicals hiding in the shadow of the Brian Clough stand over by the City Ground. 120th over: England 544-9 (Swann 3, Anderson 1) England lead by 477 This Beckettian vignette continues to play out. They're waiting for gods know what ... Anyway, with news that takes the concept of dad dancing to a whole new level, here's Jim Caprenter: "Boycott has just declared on TMS that he likes 'the pop music' and has now spent a few minutes waxing lyrical about the merits of Katy Perry - the great difficulties of the power of hearing is that you can't unhear something. It will live with me a while." WICKET! Swann 3 c Saha b Sharma (121st over: England 544-9) And that's a wrap (though thankfully not on the knuckles of either England bowler). Swann finally unfurled an attacking stroke, only to chip Sharma straight to Saha at mid-off, the fielder taking a juggling catch. So, that means India will have to see off a few overs before lunch - they will need 478 runs for an unlikely victory. INNINGS BREAK Be careful what you wish for: "This test will finish the test enthusiasm in India," writes Balakaushal Damaraju, possibly with a cheery grin on his face. "IPL which had reduced viewership will be benefited in next season. Indian Test Cricket is Dead.. Long Live Indian Test Team." And an important questions from Julian Archer: "Does Ms Hurley allow Shane Warne to eat french fries and garlic bread?" I think it's called carbo loading, which, as a sportsman, should certainly be in Warnie's repertoire. 1st over: India 0-0 (Mukund 0, Dravid 0; target 478) MUKUND IS DROPPED FIRST BALL!!! The India opener, who was on a king pair after being dismissed by Anderson off the first ball of the first innings, fenced at a ball on a length that was angled across him, getting a thick edge that flew towards the slips cordon. Tim Bresnan at second slip is the man with the unyielding paws, moving to his right and actually deflecting the ball away from Andrew Strauss, who may well have been better placed to take the catch. There's a huge groan from the stands - that is as bad a way as it's possible for a fielding team to start. I wonder, if Bresnan and Strauss were actually too close together (something that has been frequently discussed about India's slip cordon); the ball looked like it was flying straight into Strauss's bread basket as he went to his left. And, of course, Bresnan wouldn't normally be in the cordon were it not for Swann's injury. The rest of the over is a maiden . 2nd over: India 2-0 (Mukund 0, Dravid 2; target 478) Stuart Broad has regained the new ball - and you bet he won't let go of it again without a struggle. His fourth ball scrapes its way down the leg side, resulting in a strangled appeal for a caught behind. Did Dravid get any bat on that? It was an excellent diving catch

from Prior ... Eventually Strauss decides to call for a review - only to be told by Asad Rauf that he took too long to make his decision. Request denied! As it goes, it looks doubtful that DRS would have overturned Rauf's original not out call. Broad then gets one to jump back into Dravid, clattering off bad, pad and possibly body before looping to safety. Criminy, this is a feisty start! 3rd over: India 2-0 (Mukund 0, Dravid 2; target 478) Not much sign of the new-ball hoop that has made batting such a trial early on as yet, but Anderson's line is straight and true and that's another maiden. Paul Wakefield raises the subject of the fear that dare not speak its name: "Am I the only one worried that with over 5 sessions to go, the best team in the world, containing some of the finest batting talent ever to play the game, could knock off the 478 runs they need to win? Have my years following England scarred me to such an extent that I am alone in this fear?" WICKET! Dravid 6 c Prior b Broad (4th over: India 6-0 in pursuit of 478) There really is no doubt about this one and Broad's patch remains the colour of Purple Ronnie lounging in a Vimto bath. He had been probing in the corridor throughout the over and Dravid finally succumbed, thinning one through to the 'keeper. The Wall has been knocked down and England should go on to, er, storm the citadel ... 5th over: India 8-1 (Mukund 2, Laxman 0; target 478) Dravid fell off the last ball of Broad's over, so VVS Laxman ambles out to stand at the non-striker's end for the last over before lunch. Very, Very Special doesn't go halfway to describing what India need from him now. Abhinav Mukund, who should also be back in the hutch, nibbles a couple off his legs to get off a pair and Anderson is unable to tempt him into anything more rash - so that is lunch, which should taste pretty good in the England dressing room. "I've been away for a few days so haven't followed the match," pipes Don Brown. "Have I missed anything?" Nah, it's Test cricket, Don - five days and you can still get a draw. It'll never catch on! LUNCH BREAK The estimable Rob Bagchi will be taking you through the rest of the action, so send your brain farts to rob.bagchi@guardian.co.uk. You can debate whether Bresnan's Bells-up in the slips was worse than Adam Jones's suggestion: "But surely the worst way for a fielding team to start is this?" Thanks for all your emails, sorry I couldn't use them all. Bye! Afternoon all Is this the defining session of the series? Or was that yesterday's tea to stumps one? India certainly looked demoralised in the field this morning as Timmy Bresnan celebrated Yorkshire Day with a sparkling innings to go alongside his various puddings and a quarter of Yorkshire Mixture. Abhinav Mukhund and VVS Laxman are going to have to stick around till tea at least, I'd imagine, if India are going to have any hope of avoiding defeat. VVS has scored four centuries at No3, including that epic double century at Eden Gardens against Australia in 2001. Something of similar proportions is going to be required and with Broad bowling as he has done at Lord's and here, it doesn't look particularly hopeful. Here's a request from Tom Bowtell if any of you fancy donning the flannels tomorrow afternoon: My motley team, The Unavoidables, have a match tomorrow (Tuesday) and we're down a few men. Would any of the OBO readership not troubled by fripperies such as work like to turn out? It's at Blackheath Cricket club as part of their Cricket Week starting at lunch time. Any ability welcome... If anyone is up for it, could they drop an email to unavoidablescc@gmail.com? Get out the linseed oil and get yourselves down there. Anand Kumar has an interesting thought on why England sent Graeme Swann and Jimmy Anderson out instead of declaring early: "I know the reason for England batting on. It is those heavy rollers. If they declared early instead of the copybook MCC defense they dished out, the roller would have gone on and India would have 20 mins to bat (roller being good and all that). now, they have got out close to lunch which means that, the roller effect will be available for a lesser time and the 40min lunch break would take

away the effect. Pretty cunning from Flower, the man doesn't miss a trick, does he?" He's exceptionally astute, Anand, so I wouldn't put it past him. And finally, here's Lucy Salisbury with a slice of Bill Bryson to get you through the last few minutes before resumption: "I'm loving this Test series, but wanted to bring your attention to Bill Bryson's thoughts on cricket. From an American anglophile, it's very funny. After years of patient study (and with cricket there can be no other kind) I have decided that there is nothing wrong with the game that the introduction of golf carts wouldn't fix in a hurry. It is not true that the English invented cricket as a way of making all other human endeavors look interesting and lively; that was merely an unintended side effect. I don't wish to denigrate a sport that is enjoyed by millions, some of them awake and facing the right way, but it is an odd game. It is the only sport that incorporates meal breaks. It is the only sport that shares its name with an insect. It is the only sport in which spectators burn as many calories as players -- more if they are moderately restless. It is the only competitive activity of any type, other than perhaps baking, in which you can dress in white from head to toe and be as clean at the end of the day as you were at the beginning. Imagine a form of baseball in which the pitcher, after each delivery, collects the ball from the catcher and walks slowly with it to center field; and that there, after a minute's pause to collect himself, he turns and runs full tilt toward the pitcher's mound before hurling the ball at the ankles of a man who stands before him wearing a riding hat, heavy gloves of the sort used to handle radio-active isotopes, and a mattress strapped to each leg. Imagine moreover that if this batsman fails to hit the ball in a way that heartens him sufficiently to try to waddle forty feet with mattress's strapped to his legs, he is under no formal compunction to run; he may stand there all day, and, as a rule, does. If by some miracle he is coaxed into making a misstroke that leads to his being put out, all the fielders throw up their arms in triumph and have a hug. Then tea is called and every one retires happily to a distant pavilion to fortify for the next siege. Now imagine all this going on for so long that by the time the match concludes autumn has crept in and all your library books are overdue. There you have cricket. 6th over: India 9-1 (Mukund 2, Laxman 0; target 478) Play! VVS has taken a leg-stump guard, presumably to keep himself honest when tempted by outswing and the first delivery wobbles in, swinging after it pitched and India run a bye. That gives Broad the chance to slant the ball across Mukhund who leaves the next two balls. Tom Robinson asks: "Do you have any way to find out if a test match or any innings in a match has started with a six?" I don't, Tom, but we'll harness the intellect of the OBOers. Philip Wainwright is selecting an XI, with one tongue-in-cheek pick to flesh it out: "After all of Smyth's praising of, amongst others, Dravid yesterday (which I completely agree with), who would make it into an all-time 'Nice, well-respected XI'? Dravid, McGrath, Tendulkar...?" Gower? RA Smith? Mukhund is digging in and refusing to be tempted. WICKET!! Laxman b Anderson 4 What a corker of a delivery, a beautiful inswinger that then had a hint of leg cut as it beat Laxman's defences. Unplayable. 7th over: India 13-2 (Mukund 2, Tendulkar; target 478) "Oh hello!" shouts a fielder channelling Leslie Phillips when Jimmy Anderson's first ball dies and scuttles past off-stump at ankle-height. VVS gets off the mark with an-open-faced push that screams to the point boundary for four. He played that rather uppishly but got away with it. Better length from Anderson, the ball jagging back into Laxman with the fifth and then the jaffa with the last ball to castle him, or as Richie Benaud used to exclaim "bowled him neck and crop". 8th over: India 13-2 (Mukund 2, Tendulkar 0; target 478) Anderson's celebration was a replica of Bob Willis at Headingley 1981, running a circle, then Pied Pipering his team-mates across the square. (Re, rewind). The umpires checked whether it was no ball but only half his foot was over the crease. Mukund plays straight but the ball is swinging late and he almost knocks himself off his feet to counter when he digs out an almost yorker. This is an intense opening spell from these two.

9th over: India 13-2 (Mukund 2, Tendulkar 0; target 478) The judge has donned the black hankie atop his wig for poor Anand: "It's like waiting to be executed. You are strapped to the chair and the power goes off. You know it is a matter of time and you know the eventual outcome but the wait is too much to handle." Don't come over all Green Mile on us, Anand. Tendulkar plays a firm defensive push to mid-off to a fullish delivery so Anderson drops shorter and the ball flies past the batsman's nose next ball. The crowd's gone quiet, relishing the drama as Tendulkar plays out a maiden with a steer to point's feet. 10th over: India 17-2 (Mukund 3, Tendulkar 3; target 478) Any more nominations for the Lovely Fella XI? Kumar Sangakkara? Andy Roberts (off the field)? Derek Randall? Mukund takes a single with a thickish edge between fourth slip and gully. Broad sticks to a Fletcher-patented fourth-stump line to Tendulkar, then cuts one in that Sachin prods off the inside edge to short leg. The swing is squaring the batsmen up alarmingly, that's what happened to VVS and again to Tendulkar but he jabs his bat down in time. He's off the mark with a punch sqaure of the wicket and runs three. "Re, re-wind is the refrain from the Artful Dodger ft. Craig David. India are going to need a lot of (DJ) luck and keep it (MC) neat out there if they're going to etc. etc. etc," writes James Rennie with Garage corrections. God, I'm old. 11th over: India 23-2 (Mukund 3, Tendulkar 9; target 478) Tendulkar doesn't middle an off-drive but still gets two but next ball up he creams it in the same direction straight off the meat. Beautiful shot. So Jimmy decides on chin music on an off-stump line which Sachin swerves away from. "Gundappa Vishwanath for lovely fella on and off the field, " is Anand Kumar's nomination. Are there any nice fast bowlers? Or is it a crime against the union? 12th over: India 23-2 (Mukund 3, Tendulkar 9; target 478) Broad comes round the wicket to Mukund, trying to tuck him up, then lure him with a wider one. His concentration has been good, so far, extravagantly leaving the first tempting one this over then steers the last one down to be fielded by gully on the bounce. "The way England is playing oozes dominance and confidence at the moment, " writes Vigneshwaran Shanmugam. "It really pains me to see the Indian side give up a position of strength to what they find themselves in now." Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, appropriately, is set in Nottingham. 13th over: India 31-2 (Mukund 3, Tendulkar 17; target 478) Tendulkar plays a wonderful clip through midwicket off a delivery pitching middle and off for four. His touch is certainly evident in the two boundaries. Make that three with a purler of an on-drive, only inches away from the other stumps. Glorious shot. James King puts Bumble in as captain of the LF XI while Shreena Kotecha elects Shiv Cnaderpaula and Murali. I'm having David Bairstow in mine. WICKET!! Mukund c Strauss b Bresnan 3 A horrid snorter of a lifter is played off his chin by Mukund, who understandably took his eyes off the ball and it caught the gloves or the edge on its way to Strauss at slip. 14th over: India 31-3 (Raina 0, Tendulkar 17; target 478) Tim Bresnan replaces Stuart Broad, slanting his first two deliveries across Mukund and getting trueish bounce. Mukund, up on his toes, plays that line of attack nicely. Bresnan's fourth ball bounces low and snakes away infront of first slip but his fifth, a bouncer, has Mukund fending off a horrible, moving delivery. Great ball. Raina is greeted by five slips a gully, short leg and leg gully. They think he doesn't like it up him. And they'd be right. Wicket maiden for Bresnan. 15th over: India 35-3 (Raina 0, Tendulkar 21; target 478) Anderson's getting good bounce off the pitch, not half as tired as India's were this morning. And they all seem physically stronger to take advantage of this pitch. William Vincent has a wicketkeeper: "If Adam Gilchrist doesn't get into the Top Bloke's XI, there's been a grave miscourage of justice, as my Gran used to say. Also, incidentally, the finest wicket-keeper batsman in the history of the game, and without doubt the winner of the Ears of the Year Award." Well, Tendulkar, at least, is giving the India fans something to cheer with a masterly cover drive. Ode to Joy.

WICKET!! Raina c sub (Elstone) b Bresnan 1 Oh dear. Shades of ANdrew Hilditch there. Unsettled by the line of attack, Raina gets his hook out and top edges it down to long leg where the sub, Elstone, catches it old-Aussie style with fingers pointing upwards in front of his face. 16th over: India 37-4 (Yuvraj 0, Tendulkar 22; target 478) It's a Raina'ing bumpers for the wee No5 but he manages to pull his body out of the way even though the uneven bounce is sure to play tricks with his mind. Gary Naylor suggests Shaun Pollock and Hoggy to open the bowling. Good ones. Raina gets off the mark with a clip off a fuller one then Sachin turns a similar delivery off his toes for a single to put Raina back in the firing line. And he goes after the bouncer and falls. This is a rout. Three wickets from superb deliveries, the fourth from scrambling Raina's mind. 17th over: India 38-4 (Yuvraj 0, Tendulkar 23; target 478) Now they've put in a silly mid-off for Sachin. Paul Stockman suggests: "New Zealand's Ewen Chatfield was (still is as far as I know) a nice chap. Even after Peter Lever almost killed him in '75." Dan Miles thinks the Big Bird had few peers: "I met Joel Garner at Leighton Buzzard Cricket Club in 1995. He was there for Gladstone Small's testimonial. I never did find out why they had a testimonial for Gladstone Small at Leighton Buzzard Cricket Club. My home town has no affiliation to Warwickshire or Barbados to my knowledge. Not only did he sign my programme, he took it round the changing rooms and got all the players to sign it including John Emburey, Tim Munton, Ashley Giles, Dermot Reeve and Dominic Ostler." Get the Ostler one on eBay now. It'll buy you a bungalow. Tendulkar takes a single putting Yuvraj on strike for the last ball which hoops past his pads. Adrian Lobb writes: "Hey Rob Loving a classic Caught Sub in the score book. Reminds me of John E Morris's glorious summer under the lid at shortleg for England as sub fielder, with his famous juggling style. Should have played a lot more Tests that lad - although he might have struggled with your new-fangled beep tests." Animal done by Tiger Moth. I remember ALna Ealham taking a fine catch as a sub in 1977, running back and taking it over his shoulder. Elstone's was more routine but his heart must have been pumping. 18th over: India 39-4 (Yuvraj 0, Tendulkar 24; target 478) They're going to pepper Yuvraj, too, posting a leg gully and two orthodox ones but he survives the last three balls. Louise Wright joins the panel: "For an old-school touch, Derek Randall. Yes he's a bit odd, but if you read his autobiography it's in sharp contrast with those of his contemporaries because he doesn't do any whinging at all, and he's only got a bad word to say about one person, and that's Phil Edmonds who almost certainly deserves it anyway." Philippe? Difficult? 19th over: India 45-4 (Yuvraj 0, Tendulkar 30; target 478) Andy Gauld makes a fair point. I don't want to poke a wasps' nest but I, too, thought it had a touch of pressure-piling about it, too: "I'm intrigued why no one is saying anything about Flower and Strauss knocking on the Indian dressing room door asking them to reconsider their appeal - look at this from Dhoni's perspective, there's a booing crowd and now you've got the home team captain asking you to reconsider. That doesn't seem fair to me." Tendulkar drives Broad, who has replaced Anderson, for a straight four. Will it mean anything to him if he passes that milestone today? Actually I don't think it matters all that much to him anyway. Two more come off his blade. Simon Thomas pleases CMJ: "I'd like to see Robin Martyn-Jenkins get promoted from the county circuit of niceness. And who are they going to play? No doubt a team containing Andy Caddick, Ed Smith and Harbhajan Singh." Caddy? Bull will be declaring war on your house, Simon. That's drinks. 20th over: India 47-4 (Yuvraj 2, Tendulkar 30; target 478) Claire Garner is living it up in Brazil and WLTM OBOers: "I'm excitedly following the cricket from Brasil there is a bewildering lack of coverage of the Test in any of the local press. Could you put a shout out and see if there's any other OBO followers in my neck of the woods?" Brian Johnston played cricket in Brazil while working for the family coffee firm in the 1930s. He must have sown the seeds of interest. Here's Alan White's offering: "Hope I'm not too late on this but I was lucky enough to play with Jon Lewis of (now) Surrey a couple of weeks ago. Really lovely, self-deprecating and funny fella who didn't even tire of our pathetic questions about what it's like to face Shoaib Akhtar and who he least likes on the county circuit." You won't be divulging that, I bet, Alan. Yuvraj is asking for the stewards to stop moving behind the sightscreen before Bresnan resumes. Robert Speed raises a point of order: "Most international cricketers would chuckle at your suggestion of

Sangakarra's inclusion in your top bloke side, I imagine. He's probably been the most cutting sledger in international cricket for the last 10 years. Not crude, mind - just ruthless. Does that disqualify him?" Hmm. I'm going with no. Any road, back to the over in hand Yuvraj rolls a turn to leg off the middle ricocheting off Ian Bell's knee at short leg. They run two. It wasn't a chance. Last ball is a rib tickler that careers into Yuvraj's bottom hand, flush on the index finger. He goes down on his haunches while the trainer comes out. Referral: Yuvraj c Prior b Broad 2 NOT OUT, it came off his elbow. Though Yuvraj seemed to walk off when he was first given out. 21st over: India 48-4 (Yuvraj 2, Tendulkar 31; target 478) While the spray is being applied, let's hear from Guy Hornsby: "What on earth is going on here? While this doesn't introduce the same conflicting feelings of unbridled joy and confusion from Boxing Day in Melbourne when a - albeit very small - bit of me actually wanted a contest more than an abject pulverising, this is just strange. India may not always travel well, but they've capitulated here, and this is one of the best top orders in world cricket. OK, so they've lost Ghambir, but it's acutally a little sad. This isn't the farewell to England that the Little Master would've wanted. But my word, how ruthless we've become. It's almost as if the 90s never happened (they did, sadly)." Just think of Paul Taylor or Simon Brown if you ever feel too sympathetic, Guy. Back on to Bell's "dismissal" with insight from Gary Naylor while Yuvraj is having his gloves padded: "A couple of quotes from MCC's The Spirit of Cricket. 'According to the Laws the umpires are the sole judges of fair and unfair play.' and 'It is against the Spirit of the Game: To dispute an umpire's decision by word, action or gesture.' Seems Dhoni is in contravention of the first point and Strauss and Flower are in contravention of the second. So it's a triumph for the spirit of cricket, if not The Spirit of Cricket." Tendulkar promptly puts Yuvraj on strike after the first ball of the over and he plays the first lifter from Broad one-handed, the second whacks him in the stomach. That was a Steve Waughesque vote of confidence from Sachin, or as Darren Gough called it "a red-inker" ie he's looking for a not out. Yuvraj toughs out the over, wearing the ball on his elbow after taking it on the finger, his midriff and his arm. 22nd over: India 53-4 (Yuvraj 6, Tendulkar 32; target 478) Tendulkar takes a single first ball again. What's the opposite of farming the strike? But Yuvraj latches on to a fullish delivery and delightfully belts it through cover for four. Graham Samuel-Gibbon gives Brett Lee the nod: "Pains me to say it, but Brett Lee for the decent chap XI? Bonus ponts for looking evil but being thoroughly decent fella (at least off the field)." The last ball of the over comes off Yuvraj's inside edge on to the thigh pad but falls between shortleg and leg gully. 23rd over: India 53-4 (Yuvraj 6, Tendulkar 32; target 478) Lovely hooper from Broad clips Sachin's inside edge and on to his pads. Typing "hooper" brought a madeleine rush of a Burt Reynolds film then. Sorry. Maiden from Broad. Sam Korn weighs in: "Re Gary Naylor, no-one actually disputed the umpires' decision. Everyone agrees that Bell was correctly given out. However, an umpire can only be given out if there is an appeal. Batsmen cannot be given out by the umpire without an appeal. The decision about whether to appeal is that of the fielding captain. Dhoni was absolutely correct and in line with both the Spirit and the letter of the law." 24th over: India 55-4 (Yuvraj 8, Tendulkar 32; target 478) Yuvraj has an appetite for the battle today. Jonny B was there yesterday and has contributed this: "Hi Rob. In all the endless analysis and discussion, I didn't actually see a view from anyone who was actually in yesterday's booing crowd. It wasn't exactly like it looked on the telly - more an enjoyable pantomime. So I wrote a short blog report." A different perspective. At Edgbaston in 2005 two rows in front of me a bloke dropped one of those cardboard holders of four pints of biter right over the head and back of a 70 something bloke while trying to get up the aisle after a trip to the bar. Yuvraj takes a couple off the last ball down to fine leg, all top hand on his glance. 25th over: India 55-4 (Yuvraj 8, Tendulkar 32; target 478) Slight technical issue with that over. Lost my thread. Maiden from Broad, played pretty comfortably by Tendulkar. Here's Stuart Wilson: "I'm excitedly following the cricket from Johannesburg. Unlike Claire, I wouldn't LTM fellow OBOers. If they were to meet any of my friends here they would realise that being grumpy, pessimistic, tight and unsociable

is just the default setting for an English cricket fan, rather than the personality on which I have based my (limited) popularity." WICKET!! Yuvraj c Cook b Bresnan 8 He tried his best with one hand to fend off a barrage of shortpitched stuff but succumbed in the end with one that rose viciously, cut across him and ballooned off his glove to Cook diving backwards at silly point. WICKET!! Dhoni LBW Bresnan 0 Pads up to a full-length ball cutting back in to hit middle. Bresnan's on a hat-trick though that was the end of the over. 26th over: India 55-6 (Harbhajan 0, Tendulkar 32; target 478) Bresnan tries to tempt Bresnan with one across him after two aimed at his chest. Yuvraj leaves it well alone and plays the next short-pitched one nicely to drop at his feet. Yasi Gulzar has a dilemma: "Thoroughly enjoying the OBO report and seeing England giving India a good beating (as a British Pakistani this is a double whammy) but I'm in a bit of a predicament. You see I'm logged on the web from Reading Crown Court where I am awaiting to be potentially selected as a juror should this happen and I end up in a court room with no access to OBO what potential excuses could I give to the jury officer to remain where I am? Can my fellow readers suggest something? I am currently on my first day of Ramadan so potentially could link my excuse to that?" That would be one option, Yasir. Not the same thing but my brother was once exceptionally late turning up to start his shift at a temp job years ago (the Shakoor Rana Tour of Pakistan). His supervisor asked why he was so late. My brother said: "I wanted to see if Ernie Emburey got his 50." He was non-plussed and let him off. Holywood end to that over from Bresnan. 27th over: India 57-6 (Harbhajan 1, Tendulkar 33; target 478) India's heads have gone. Raina, Mukund and Yuvraj bounced out. Dhoni's mind scrambled. Harbhajan plays out the king pair ball from Broad after Sachin took a single and the rest of the over. Bresnan hat-trick ball: Went for the yorker, ended up a full toss and Bhaji belted it for four through midoff. 28th over: India 62-6 (Harbhajan 6, Tendulkar 33; target 478) The second ball arrows in at Harbhajan, who goes to ground to avoid it. Paul Cockburn was also present and correct yesterday: "A different different perspective from Trent Bridge yesterday. It was typical ECB rubbish how the paying punters were treated. While anyone who slapped down a fiver for a pint and a snack got endless replays and explanations, those of us who paid 60 to be in the ground were ignored completely. Our sole bit of information was the big screen screaming OUT! Shoddy. Actually, quite a few people were listening to TMS and following the OBO to get any info at all. Oh, and I could hear Botham through the open window of the commentary box, so at least I could be sure someone was ranting." He was on fine Sir Frederick form yesterday. All he needed was a pipe. Sachin's back on strike and steers a fullish ball to point. Here's Martin Cruise, another Radcliffe Road End insider: "I think the issue that people had inside the ground (over 24) and which caused the booing was that we had no idea why Bell and Morgan had been stopped at the boundary, no idea why Bell was given out and then reappeared after tea and then no idea why the decision had been reversed. The announcement came a long time after the evening session had started. We thought the easiest way to avoid the booing would have been either (a) Bell to come out first after tea rather than umpires and India or (b) have an announcement made about what happened before the session started again. Lack of communication seemed to cause the booing to me." Fair points all round. 29th over: India 66-6 (Harbhajan 10, Tendulkar 33; target 478) Harbhajan gets four to third man off a thickish edge from Broad's first ball. The old cliche about playing for pride kicks in here. A defeat by 350 plus is too much of a shellacking for a No1 team to bear without serious questions being asked about preparation and the unsuitability of a bowling attack that lacks variety. He's not to blame but is Duncan in peril? Andrew Pack has some advice for jury service shirking: "A quick conversion to the Plymouth Brethren, who believe that only God can judge people and not courts or juries, is normally enough to get

out of the jury service. Failing that, saying loudly in the presence of anyone wearing wigs and gowns 'Oh, I was just googling that defendant and all sorts came up' would do the trick." 30th over: India 68-6 (Harbhajan 10, Tendulkar 35; target 478) Graeme Swann is to bowl the last over before tea. Tendulkar takes two but Swann is getting some bounce and spin outside off stump. Nice forward press from Tendulkar to end the over and the session. Off for a drink. I will be back in 15 minutes. TEA BREAK More on jury service from Tom: "In response to Yazi at Reading Crown Court. I am sat in Nottingham Crown Court and work for the CPS. Having seen 2 trials collapsed I am now safely next to a computer reading about the great news coming in via OBO. Yazi should worry no more as crown court judges knock off at four and I would eat my barrister's wig if a trial starts in Reading from here on in!" And more from Trent Bridge's birdfest courtesy of Dan Collins: "I was at Trent Bridge yesterday Rob and I was horrified and embarrassed by the booing. (Then again, I am something of a young(ish) fogey.) I really take exception with the line, 'Lack of communication seemed to cause the booing to me.' The idea that you boo if you don't understand what's going on is a bit laughable, and suggests that booing is something that occurs naturally if not actively guarded against, as opposed to being boorish, drunken behaviour by a few simpletons. Glad to get that off my chest." You must feel lighter after that, Dan. Adam Hirst has a dilemma for the actual selectors: "So Bresnan should not be dropped when Tremlett is fit again, not after this performance. Broad is a certainty again, and set for another long run. With Bresnan, Broad and Swann to back up Prior, you can afford to go in with five bowlers surely. Anderson to go if they have four frontline bowlers? Morgan? Tough decisions!" They won't drop Jimmy, Adam. He's the leader. Gary Naylor comes back into the debate: "Re Mr Korn's rejoinder, my case is that Flower and Strauss, by dint of going into the Indians' dressing room to ask them to reconsider their appeal were, in an indirect way, disputing the umpires' decision. MS Dhoni, in assuming the right to judge that his own side's actions were unfair, then took on powers reserved for umpires (who clearly felt it was fair play, else why did they give Bell out?) Letting the players make judgment calls is opening a Pandora's Box look what a mess football got into when the players started kicking the ball out of play for injuries to be treated." Now on to Geoff Roberts: "If Duncan Fletcher were a Premiership manager he'd be on his bike this evening wouldn't he? Odds on India winning the next two Tests to draw the series? In the ten overs left how about some post mortem thoughts on what went wrong for India!" I'd venture samey bowling, undercooked batsmen (not VVS and Dravid obviously), no Sehwag and Gambhir. Dhoni's poor wicketkeeping, Raina's susceptibility to the short ball. 31st over: India 75-6 (Harbhajan 11, Tendulkar 41; target 478) Pietersen takes the ball to facilitate a change of ends. More jury service dodges from Derek Pascoe: "I was told when I was 'called up' not to wear camouflage trousers. Once they call your number as soon as you get up to cross the floor the defendants lawyer takes one look and utters 'Challenge'. Works every time apparently. I never had the guts to turn up in them, went to buy some ...couldn't find em. But it meant that I was air conditioned for three weeks whilst it was 45 C outside." Good call, Derek. Tendulkar plays a sublime late cut to take four off KP's third ball and runs two off the last with a thickish-edged drive. 32nd over: India 77-6 (Harbhajan 12, Tendulkar 42; target 478) Anderson returns after a breather before tea and bowls a gentle loosener to start with. Tom Paternoster responds to Gary Naylor's opinion: "There are countless examples of umpires asking captains if they really want to appeal throughout cricket's long and rich history. Each of these are cases of letting the players make judgment calls about the ethics of whether or not a dismissal should stand, because the umpire has to uphold the letter of the law and so has no leeway if a batsman is technically out, but really shouldn't be. As John Holder explained in Ask the Umpire on TMS over the weekend, the umpire has to uphold the laws of the game." Harbhajan clips Anderson's full inswinger to square leg for a single bringing Sachin on to strike. England post two men on the drive at short mid-off and mid-on and Tendulkar glides it away for a single, drops his bat when Pietersen takes aim at the non-striker's and might have been run out had the ball hit.

33rd over: India 86-6 (Harbhajan 14, Tendulkar 49; target 478) Swann comes back from this end, playing late and beautifully with a clip off his pads and then a lap-sweep. Harbhajan, too, plays late to take a single to square leg. On strike again Tendulkar goes down on one knee to slog Swann over mid on, just inches beyond KP's hands. It bounced a yard inside the rope. The peerless Andy Wilson, a Lanky on Yorkshire Say, is at Trent Bridge and has sent this lovely piece for your enjoyment 34th over: India 94-6 (Harbhajan 18, Tendulkar 54; target 478) Tendulkar brings up his 50 off 80 balls with a glorious cut off Anderson. Huge rejoicing in the crowd and takes one off the last ball with a punch to wide mid on. Peter Masters has a point of view on India's coach: "Fletcher - occupation, a make of arrows, though few have been sent down by his bowlers on this occasion. He may get off on the grounds of being new in the job, but, lest we forget, Duncs has form turning out ill prepared sides. Harmison bowling to gully. Total breakdown or morale. Need we say more?" He certainly believes in the value of rest, Peter. 35th over: India 106-6 (Harbhajan 29, Tendulkar 55; target 478) Huge lbw shout from Swann as Harbhajan goes down to sweep but next ball he's down the pitch to smash a six over long-on. He follows that by getting on top of one that bounces and back cuts it for four. Dan Stewart has an in memoriam missive: "My 97-year-old grandfather, a lifelong cricket fan and MCC member, passed away over the weekend. Just as he was about to go into the operation that he would never recover from, he made a last request of my mother the day's cricket score. I like to think he's up there somewhere, cricket hat on his head and drink in hand, enjoying the fine day's play. Win it for Granddad, chaps!" 36th over: India 107-6 (Harbhajan 28, Tendulkar 56; target 478) Bresnan's back on gunning for his first Test five-for. He's got four for 18 from his first spell. He's trying to give Bhaji the hurry-up but so far he's played him well, cracking a pull to mid-on and riding the bounce and dropping the ball dead at his feet. A different booing tale from Alex Porritt: "I live in Montreal which could teach the world a thing or too about booing. I took my wife to her first Montreal Canadiens game a few years ago and the Canadiens were taking a beating from Tampa. The crowd booed not only the players, but the mascot, the fan of the game and even the couple that won the 'kiss-cam'. It was hard not to be impressed by their dedication to expressing displeasure." Glasgow Empiresque, Alex. Good pace from Bresnan. WICKET!! Tendulkar lbw Anderson 56 Oh dear. They haven't learned the folly of Mike Gatting's habit of shouldering arms. Sachin leaves a beautiful off-cutter from Anderson that snakes in late and clips him in front as he shaped to leave it. Plumb. 37th over: India 107-7 (Harbhajan 29, Kumar 1; target 478) Oh Sachin, why? 38th over: India 125-7 (Harbhajan 45, Kumar 1; target 478) Harbhajan is going down with the ship, though. Counterpunching when Bresnan drops short or gives him some width. It has been a brutal display by England's bowling attack, giving India's batsmen a real working over. Sachin looked in fine nick until he underestimated Anderson in the previous over. Harbhajan stands up and belts Bresnan back over his head on the up off the fifth ball of the over. Sixteen for him off the over. 39th over: India 127-7 (Harbhajan 45, Kumar 3; target 478) Scott Elstone drops a skyer off Kumar's slog front-foot pull over square leg's head so Anderson tucks him up with a bouncer that he fends off his visor but drops short of slip. Anderson continues in this vein, his dander well and truly up as he tries to follow Kumar's chin as he veers to leg to avoid the ball. WICKET!! Harbhajan c sub (Elstone) b Bresnan 46 Harbhajan slog-pulls and gives young Elstone a chance to redeem his drop which he duly does on the square leg boundary after a wee juggle. He's grown up today and might even be shaving tomorrow. 40th over: India 129-8 (Sharma 0, Kumar 4; target 478) Bresnan takes his maiden Test Michelle with another well-targeted short ball that Harbhajan couldn't get over. Relentless targeting of several batsmen's discomfort at the short ball. Brezzy Lad will be getting tons of supportive tweets from Galey Lad, Rich

Lad, Goughie Lad and all the other Tyke twitterers. Richly deserved. He's more than an effort merchant. There's real skill to his trade these days. 41st over: India 130-8 (Sharma 0, Kumar 5; target 478) Good over from Anderson, squaring Ishant up with a couple that swing in but he survives. 42nd over: India 142-8 (Sharma 0, Kumar 17; target 478) Bresnan pitches his first ball up and Kumar smashes him through point for four. Some short stuff will follow now, one presumes. Counterintuitively he tries a 59mph yorker that drifts past off-stump. He slices another huge slog over cover's head and gets another four courtesy of Broad's boot touching the rope and flat bats the last one over the umpire's head for his third four of the over. Patrick Dennis on Bresnan: "It's the 1 August which is Yorkshire Day so we're all wearing our Puddings and eating white roses - oops should be t'other way round and celebrating a decent bit of bowling. Can't wait for 'Look North' at 6.30 - Harry Gratian will be ecstatic!" He will, Patrick. And Judith Stamper? 43rd over: India 143-8 (Sharma 1, Kumar 17; target 478) Anderson pursues an off-stump line at Ishant, probing for the edge then drops one short that Sharma fends off for a single. 44th over: India 148-8 (Sharma 2, Kumar 21; target 478) Broad is back on to replace Bresnan. Sarah Hyde makes a valid point, as Raich Nelson almost put it: "England expects that every man (and woman) will do his (and her) duty". "Please ignore the top tips for ducking jury service - right-thinking (by which I mean left-thinking) Guardian readers are much needed on juries, otherwise all justice in this country will be meted out by Daily Mail reading housewives and retired brigadiers, whether on juries or as magistrates." Kumar plays one of the shots of the day with a glorious drive through midwicket. Anthony has a thought about the Indian coaching regime: "Could it be that there is one person in the Indian camp who won't be downcast the way this series is going? Duncan Fletcher has taken on one of the most difficult jobs in cricket, given that the Indian team remain to be convinced of the value of a coach. Their current performance might make the case for him more effectively than anything else. Surely a ruler needs to be run over their tour planning, the demands of IPL, timing of players' down-time for both rest and physical recuperation, and then install some discipline to get them back on track. A comprehensive defeat will, perhaps, increase the appetite for a coaching regime that is a bit more informed than it has been recently." Lessons have to be digested, Anthony. But it depends on how much power they want to devolve to one man. I can't see that happening. That's drinks. WICKET!! Kumar b Anderson 25 Comprehensively yorked by Anderson, a fine piece of thinking and execution to counter Kumar's swishing. 45th over: India 153-9 (Sharma 3, Sreesanth 0; target 478) They're sticking in a third man for Praveen Kumar but he is still having a swipe at everything short, middles one and smacks it to the mid-on boundary. Ian Copestake suggests that the Stamper/Gratian axis is no more. Probably not for 25 years: "Christa Ackroyd is the heart and soul of Yorkshire's BBC presence. I only wish the BBC allowed her to place her pint of Tetley's on the newsdesk as she squints at the autocue." Northamptonshire's Tetley's? I hope not, Ian. Reopen the brewery and we might sanction it. Beautiful yorker knocks Kumar over, he couldn't dig out the ball and few No9s could have. 46th over: India 154-9 (Sharma 4, Sreesanth 0; target 478) We've got James Burton from the TCB band with a sharp point: "Bresnan v Tremlett. Surely there can be no precedent for dropping a man following a fivefer and a 90, so Tremlett must miss out. On that note, whether or not this is the best England bowling attack ever is open for debate, but I can't believe that there has ever been more depth - Shazad must be the best seventh seamer England have ever had (assuming that Finn and Onions would be next in line)." Sharma's going for the red-inker and saunters up the other end. Sreesanth is down the pitch to hoick at his first two short balls, the second of which causes Broad and Prior to appeal for a caught behind which Sree missed by a mile. Tries the yorker off the last ball, which Sreesanth misses, but it slides past leg stump.

47th over: India 157-9 (Sharma 7, Sreesanth 0; target 478) Will Bowen clocks on: "Regardless of whether we get the win or two draws we need to be elevated to No1 world ranking, England surely deserves the sobriquet of world's best side. We've humbled the Aussies away from home, now we've made mincemeat out of the team the stattos have determined is top of the charts. These are heady days indeed." Strange days, indeed. Most peculiar, mamma. Anderson tries a slower ball to trick Ishant but he's wise to it and lofts it over wide mid-off where it plugs into the turf like a nine-iron on to the green and runs three. WICKET!! Sreesanth b Broad 0 Yorked by Broad with a nice inswinger. England win by 319 runs to go 2-0 up in the four Test series. A stunning victory for England: Exceptional pace bowling from Bresnan, Broad and Anderson. They were remorseless in exposing certain of India's batsmen's weaknesses, got Mukund and Laxman with unplayable deliveries, understood that Dravid can't do everything and lured Dhoni and Tendulkar into making misjudgments that pressure can bring. It's been a superb performance after an unpromising start, truly deserving of a No1 ranked team. But they haven't got there yet and whether they do depends on India's response. Nasser Hussain said he fears for India, that this has echoes of England's thrashing during the 2006-07 Ashes tour. Can they fight back from this demoralising setback? Join us on 10 August to find out. Thanks for all your emails, sorry I couldn't use all of them. Bye! And a late postscript, here's Andy Wilson on Scott Elstone, England's supersub.