A day of mixed emotions for both teams. A day that once again proved that there is nothing like Test match cricket. India started off by picking up Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell in the opening 2 overs of the day. England were 1/2 from 1.1 overs. Then came a terrific counter-attack by Pietersen and Cook that ensured India could not press home the advantage. Both scored at a frenetic pace and, although Pietersen played some risky shots, the scorecard was ticking over at the speed of light.

Cook was then dismissed by an unusually expensive Zaheer Khan as he was trapped plumb in front. Collingwood came and had a small partnership with his skipper, however he did not last too long as he was caught by Dhoni to a classic leg-spinner dismissal. Mishra was the culprit here as he got one to turn from middle-and-leg to off. Collingwood could only offer a faint edge as Dhoni made sure he held onto the catch. Once again a new bowler picked up a wicket in his first overs.

Then came, perhaps, the most enjoyable part of the day as Flintoff and Pietersen joined hands to take the Indian bowling apart. A massive 149 run partnership came in only 39.4 overs as they slowed down at the end of the day. Harbhajan was reintroduced and picked up the prize wicket of Pietersen just before tea. As if that was not enough drama, Amit Mishra, in what would be the last delivery of Day 3, had Flintoff caught low at short leg. A superb catch from Gambhir under the helmet as Flintoff got an inside edge onto his pad. England finished the day at 282/6, with only Matt Prior as the last recognized batsman. England are still 171 runs behind with two days of cricket left.

For India, they should have finished England off once the two early wickets fell. And their inability to do so was all thanks to the real Kevin Pietersen that we haven’t seen throughout this tour. It is still anybody’s game.



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