England pile on the agony through Bell and Co

23:05 - Eng 441 for 6 after 101 oversT Bresnan 47 (66), M Prior 64 (55)One look at the faces of the Indian players and you know what they have gone through. Tendulkar is grimacing, Harbhajan looks lost and the rest are in a similar frame of mind. They have conceded more than 400 runs in the day, been hammered for fours and sixes and looked a shadow of the team that claims to be the best in the world. And all this is conditions that have given some help to the bowlers throughout the day. England bat deep and each one of those batsmen knows how to make each opportunity call. It was exhausting to watch, it must have been much worse on the field as Prior and Bresnan pounded the Indian team into submission. This was England's day. Many might remember it for Dhoni's decision but in the context of the match, India are down and out. England are now ahead by 374 runs. During the 90 overs bowled on day three, England hit 417 runs @ 4.63.And in twitter-speak, @cricketaakash says, 'Fast bowlers needed support (not so much wickets) but unfortunately it wasn't forthcoming. Staring down a hopelessly dark tunnel' 22:14 - Eng 381 for 6 after 91 oversT Bresnan 14 (29), M Prior 39 (32)And England just continue to score the runs at a quick pace. Does the fall of wickets make absolutely no difference to them? The ball is still moving around but Prior and Bresnan are playing with a fair degree of ease. The lead is now 314 runs -- too much already?On Twitter, @ZaltzCricket gives us his take on the situation: I've just put India's body language through an online translation programme. It has come out as: "Er, er, hmmpphh."21:45 - Eng 339 for 6 after 82.4 oversJ Trott c Dravid b Kumar 2 (10b)A jaffer from Praveen gets Trott. The ball just took off from a length and it was virtually unplayable. Trott, injured and all, couldn't do much expect fend at it. Dravid, at first slip, took an easy catch. India can't afford to rest easy though. Everyone in this England batting line-up with the exception of James Anderson averages above 24. Shots are going to be played and India will want to keep damage down to a minimum. This small session will decide the match. How much can India make the new ball do for them? 21:33 - Eng 329 for 5 after 80.2 oversE Morgan c Dhoni b Kumar 70 (88b, 8x4, 1x6)And the new ball does the trick. Morgan's gone and that should breathe some life into the Indians. Two new batsmen at the wicket, the scoring rate will slow down and allow India to gain some control. Dhoni needs to set attacking fields; he needs to give his bowlers all the encouragement they need. Prior and Trott are no mugs with the bat but the new ball is moving about. Strike now!21:23 - Eng 323 for 4 after 78 oversI Bell c Laxman b Yuvraj Singh 159 (206b, 24x4)Finally, Bell is gone. This was big. India needed a wicket and Yuvraj has provided the breakthrough. No question marks this time round. This was big (that's a repeat and we know it). Bell's innings, controversy aside, has pushed India to the edge. England have scored at over 4.00 RPO and that puts India under a lot of pressure. Will India be able to save this game? That's the question we need to be asking.21:14 - Eng 310 for 3 after 76 oversI Bell 153 (201), E Morgan 60 (74)This can't be easy for India. The lead continues to grow rapidly and the match now seems lost. India need wickets, they need Bell, they need Morgan. By now would Dhoni be re-thinking his decision? I hope not. Great batting by England. They look unruffled and India look scared. This cannot be easy on their nerves. India are waiting for the new ball and a miracle.20:58 - Eng 293 for 3 after 71 oversI Bell 144 (184), E Morgan 52 (61)After tea, India has conceded 39 runs in five overs. It's like a dam has broken. The Indians seem listless, it looks like they have a lot more on their minds than just cricket. Morgan's torn into them with a vengeance, this is looking pretty bad for India. They did the right thing by recalling Bell but now they need to do the right thing and take wickets. There's only one way to win from here. England's lead is up to 226 runs.20:35 - Eng 254 for 3 after 66 oversI Bell 137 (178), E Morgan 21 (36)As the players walk on the field after tea, it would seem Dhoni has withdrawn the appeal. Good sense prevails. Tremendous decision by Dhoni. This is how cricket should be played. The crowd that was booing India initially, now cheers the visitors. Standing ovation for them.During tea, the England coach and captain approached the Indian coach and captain and asked them to withdraw their appeal. Dhoni obliged. Go Dhoni! You can be sure that a lot more than tea was brewed in the dressing room.On Twitter, @rameshsrivats has some fun: 'As a Bengali would say - Bellcome back.'[caption id="attachment_51375" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Ian Bell was given out and then recalled. AP"][/caption]20:15 - Eng 254 for 4 after 66 oversI Bell run out 137 (178b, 22x4)What just happened there? Would Anil Kumble now say that just one team was playing cricket there? Morgan flicked the ball to behind square-leg. Praveen Kumar dived, made a hash of the attempt, the ball hit his leg and miraculously didn't touch the boundary line. The paceman didn't realise it, nor did the batsmen. He almost languidly made his way to the ball -- England could have run five if they wanted to, the umpire had not yet signalled four -- and threw it back to Abhinav Mukund, who casually flicked the bails off. Here's the controversial bit: In the meanwhile, England ran three and thought that was that. And even before tea was called, Bell walked to the other end and touched gloves with Morgan. But Dhoni appealed to Erasmus and the third umpire gave the decision in India's favour. This is going to be a flashpoint. This is going to be controversial. Bell wasn't taking a fourth run. Dhoni knew that but he has also decided not to take the appeal back. No matter who was correct, this just seemed wrong. This smells like trouble. That's tea too but does anyone care? Sourav says he would have overturned the appeal. 19:49 - Eng 236 for 3 after 60 oversE Morgan 10 (15), I Bell 130 (163)Wicket gone but the slide continues. Looks like the best batting conditions of the Test so far -- India had 42 boundaries in their innings that lasted 91.1 overs. England's innings has just last 60 overs but they have already hit 33 boundaries in their innings. Looks like the way to play on this wicket is to be positive and attack. Eoin Morgan has a strange batting stance but he seems to have settled in quickly while Bell continues unfazed.19:28 - Eng 219 for 3 after 55.2 oversKP Pietersen c †Dhoni b Sreesanth 63 (120b, 7x4)Finally a wicket for India. This took a long while coming... 162 runs and 32.1 overs to be precise but India have finally managed to dismiss Kevin Pietersen. The right-hander had never looked quite as good as he did at Lord's but the partnership with Bell was crucial. Together, they have managed to almost bat India out of the match. But count on Sreesanth to keep his spirits high when everyone else around him seemed to be flat. Superb line and length had KP pushing at it and the wicket was just reward. Immediately after the dismissal, Sree turned around and bowed in the direction of the crowd where he was fielding. Was it inspiration or the heckling? Well, whatever works.On Twitter, @sidvee plays the eternal optimist: 'That's it. Sree will now do a Broad. Then Broad will do a Harbhajan. And Laxman will do a Bell. All settled.'19:15 - Eng 208 for 2 after 53 oversK Pietersen 58 (110), I Bell 119 (145)This just seems to get worse for India with every passing over. The players are looking listless and flat. Bell's 15th Test century was classy. He's not put a foot wrong, milked the bowling for singles and knocked enough fours to keep the India's bowlers on the backfoot. Is there any hope left for India? Unless they get themselves some quick wicket right now, no! This is getting pretty desperate for India. If they only show that desperation, something might happen. How badly does India want this now!18:50 - Eng 179 for 2 after 48 oversK Pietersen 50 (98), I Bell 98 (127)There have to be questions about Dhoni's captaincy now. He just doesn't seem to do much when the going gets tough. This isn't even reactive, forget about being proactive. Not enough bowling changes, the tactics aren't forcing the batsmen to do anything different either. Very strange from the Indian skipper. Meanwhile, KP got to his fifty off 98 balls with 6 fours. He struggled initially but now looks dangerous; too dangerous for India. The run-rate is good and the lead keeps growing. The match seems to have slipped away.On Twitter, @cricketaakash can't hide his disappointment: 'No Ishant in the post-lunch session at Lord's when Eng was 62/5 n no Sreesanth here straight after lunch. Defies logic.'18:32 - Eng 150 for 2 after 43 oversK Pietersen 30 (59), I Bell 90 (115)England's lead up to 83 now. the first over after lunch on day one and two saw a wicket fall but India had no such luck. The tactics will now need to change. India need a wicket. They will have to question themselves and figure out whether they are doing enough to get the breakthrough. So far, the odd ball is still doing a fair bit but it is having no impression on the batsmen.17:30 - Eng 130 for 2 after 38 oversK Pietersen 20 (59), I Bell 84 (106)That's lunch. Bell's been brilliant but India have made a big mistake by caving in tamely on the second day. Day three has looked like the best day to bat on. The sun is out, the runs are coming at a fair rate and India will be worried. In England, the conditions can change at any time and you do not want England to get too far ahead. A target of 200 in the fourth innings will be really hard to get. In the 27-over session, England score 106 for 1 at a run-rate of 3.93. Not bad going at all. As far as session go, that one belonged to England. England lead by 63 runs with eight wickets in hand.Meanwhile here's what Shane Warne (@warne888) feels India needs to do: Good 1st session by England - India need 2 quick wickets if they want to win this game - need to have Eng 4 down for 100 ahead by drinks !17:12 - Eng 115 for 2 after 33 oversK Pietersen 12 (36), I Bell 77 (96)England motoring along through Bell and Pietersen. England's lead up to 48 and the batting surface looks good. Not too much swing around in the air or off the wicket. This is hardly the kind of session that India wanted. England have already scored 68 runs in the session and they will want to maintain the run-rate. India will need another breakthrough. They will need a wicket to start feeling confident again; right now the shoulders are just starting to droop a bit.[caption id="attachment_51336" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Ian Bell has been superb all morning. AP"][/caption]16:55 - Eng 86 for 2 after 29 oversK Pietersen 8 (33), I Bell 52 (78)Bell looking very good, stroking his way to another fifty. Shots all around the wicket, pleasing to the eye as well. Kevin Pietersen, on the other hand, is still feeling his way out there. He has been walking across the wicket, trying to work everything on the leg-side but it hasn't been easy. Dhoni even had Yuvraj Singh bowling for a while but KP didn't do anything rash. More action off the field at the moment though with Ravi Shastri and Nasser Hussain crossing swords over the DRS system.16:30 - Eng 70 for 2 after 24 oversK Pietersen 5 (15), I Bell 39 (66)England are now finally in the lead, 3 runs ahead but they are effectively three down too. Trott will not be batting in their innings but England do bat very deep. We saw that at Lord's and in the first innings at Trent Bridge too. Dhoni finally brought Ishant into the attack but the right-arm paceman hasn't looked very dangerous so far. However, as Broad showed, if you can get the length right, this is still a good wicket to bowl on. England's batsmen standing out of their crease deliberately to cut down on the swing and that's forcing the Indian bowlers to pitch it short.16:10 - Eng 57 for 2 after 19.1 oversA Strauss c Dhoni b Sreesanth 16 (52b)And that's the breakthrough that India needed. A loose shot from Strauss but India won't be complaining. The hosts are two down, and still in 10 runs in the arrears. No hotspot needed as Strauss punches his bat and walks off. Sree has been quiet, bowling in the right channels, trying to do the right thing and that has many of us wondering what's got into him. If he can bowl like this consistently, there's no reason why he can't be part of the team regularly. Meanwhile, for stats fans: Strauss in his last eight innings, 129 runs at 16. Enough to kick him out of the squad?15:56 - Eng 48 for 1 after 17 oversA Strauss 16 (51), I Bell 23 (40)England have come out and looked to be positive right from the word 'go.' They have score 24 runs in the six overs so far. Lots of singles interspersed with boundaries. That will play on Dhoni's mind as well. He will have a number in mind; a total he feels India will be comfortable chasing. As England get closer to that total, the nerves of the India squad with with fraught with fear. The feeling will be that India have let another win slip by. It won't be easy. But the day is just beginning. The war is yet to start. Right now, the batsmen and the bowlers are just getting set.15:33 - Eng 24 for 1 after 12 oversA Strauss 6 (34), I Bell 9 (34)That's the first over of the day gone by, not too much swing on offer yet. Sreesanth bowled a tight line though. The first session will be crucial because England still have some way to go before they wipe out the deficit. This won't be a walk in the park, they won't think so either. India will need to get Strauss early. So far, he's got off to starts in every innings, done the hard work and then given his wicket away. He is now overdue for a big knock. And this just might be his day. Once he gets going, he is quite aggressive too.Start of Day 3[caption id="attachment_51303" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="India will need Ishant to fire. AP"][/caption]This is as exciting as Test cricket can get. A day full of possibilities. India are without their pace spearhead, the openers are missing as well but Dravid and Laxman have showed that they aren't worried. They take the rough with the smooth with such equanimity that no loss is too great. India seems to recover from everything that the opposition throws at them. England, on the other hand, have showed just why they are challenging India for the top spot. They fight and they fight hard, push themselves to the limit and the opponents as well. This day is going to be the series decider.The one thing India will need to remember is that it takes one good session to undo the work done in the previous sessions. A lead of 200 could be potentially match-winning and unless India get a few early wickets, they might decide to go a little on the defensive as well. The third day will be allow us to see how good a captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni really is.End of day 2England 221 & 24/1 (11.0 ov)India 288England trail by 43 runs with 9 wickets remaining