The feeling of helplessness that enveloped much of India's horrendous
tours of England and Australia descended again on MS Dhoni's side on the
third day at Eden Gardens, as two of the most bloody-minded batsmen in
world cricket, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, set about grinding down
toothless bowling in the morning. After lunch, India managed to dismiss
both of them, but that didn't alter England's dominance of the match as
Kevin Pietersen and the lower order stacked up some quick runs to
stretch the lead towards a comfortable 200.
The moment typifying India's ineptness was Ishant Sharma putting down an
absolute dolly off his own bowling when Cook was on 156. A rare Cook
mistake sent the ball looping towards Ishant at waist height and at slow
pace, but Ishant contrived to fluff that chance, the ball missing his
palm and hitting the wrist. Ishant was left scratching his head in
disappointment, while MS Dhoni maintained his famously expressionless
demeanour.
Neither the old ball nor the new one swung, and though there was some
uneven bounce - Cook was once surprised by a lifter from Ishant that
struck the bat handle - the batsmen weren't tested much by the quicks as
they wiped out the deficit.
India's spinners turned in a much-improved effort after Thursday's
disappointing show, bowling accurately with the old ball in the first
hour before getting some bounce and turn with the shiny one. In the
second session, they got some help from the pitch as well, spinning the
ball past the outside edge several times, and asking questions of the
well-set Cook and Trott.
Nothing took the shine off Cook's golden tour, though, as he completed
26 hours of batting in the series, the longest day for India's bowlers.
As usual there was no extravagance from him; he patiently blocked or
left countless deliveries, before cashing in on those that were over
pitched or on his pads.
Trott had missed out in the first two Tests, but not this time. He was
cautious early in the morning, but soon helped himself to the gifts
offered by India's bowlers, especially Zaheer Khan and Ishant. Zaheer
gave him several deliveries on the pads to put away, while Ishant bowled
plenty short and wide. Before long, Trott was calmly dispatching R
Ashwin's variation, the carrom ball, for four, and walking out of the
crease before driving.
When England's tailenders were out in the middle practising their
batting during the lunch break, one wondered why they bothered, given
how bleak India's chances of prising apart the Cook-Trott combination
looked. The stand finally came to an end on 173 when Pragyan Ojha
managed to get a flat delivery to spin away and take Trott's outside
edge to Dhoni.
Trott fell 13 short of a hundred, but Cook seemed set for a double,
given his massive powers of concentration, and unquenchable thirst for
runs. However, Cook too fell short of the milestone, run-out on 190
after a brain-fade. After Pietersen clipped a ball to square leg, Cook
took a few strides before turning back. The ball went to India's best
fielder, Virat Kohli, who scored a direct hit after Cook jumped back and
lifted his bat to avoid the throw. Cook hadn't grounded his bat, so
there was no question of him escaping on account of evasive action, and
he was run-out for the first time in his Test career.
Though India had removed both of England's accumulators, they still had
to deal with the more aggressive threat provided by Pietersen. The Barmy
Army, which had boisterously cheered the dogged-but-effective scoring
of Cook and Trott, was treated to some flamboyant shots from Pietersen,
who nonchalantly whipped balls from outside off to the leg-side
boundary. With less than 10 minutes to tea, he launched Ojha for a
straight six, and began the final session with three successive
boundaries.
He was toying with the attack, dispatching the ball where he liked and
galloped to yet another half-century. However, he missed a sweep soon
after was trapped lbw for 54. Even that didn't lead to a slowdown as
Samit Patel capitalised on a tiring attack, and crashed a brisk 33. His
chance of making it into a sizeable innings ended when he nicked a catch
to slip, where Virender Sehwag juggled before holding on.
On what was a depressing day for India fans, one of the most
disappointing phases was the hour before stumps. After Samit Patel was
dismissed, India needed just one more wicket to get into England's
bonafide tailenders. Instead, Matt Prior and Graeme Swann pummelled 56
runs in the final 13 overs, the highlight of which was a majestic pull
for six by Prior off Ishant.
India have not lost two home Tests in a row since early 2000, a streak
that looks set to come to an end over the next couple of days, unless
their faltering batting order finds someone to replicate Cook's marathon
efforts of this series.
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