Cricket:Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen piled up twin hundreds in a record triple-century stand as England showed India no mercy on day two of the fourth test at The Oval. England's third-wicket pair dominated India's vulnerable attack in a partnership of 350.
Shantha Sreesanth did his best to generate an illusion of competitiveness, with a series of vain attempts to engage Pietersen verbally, but a benign surface and sunny skies made life increasingly comfortable for the hosts and desperate for their opponents.
But after the early loss of both Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook for the addition of only two runs between them, there was rarely even an approximation of a true contest between bat and ball in a total of 457 for three, with Bell and Pietersen posting England‘s record stand for any wicket against India.
After a watchful start, Bell (181no) and Pietersen (175) duly made the most of easy pickings on their way respectively to and well beyond their 16th and 19th Test centuries. Bell’s was his first on this ground, but fifth in 11 innings of a prolific 2011 to date.
Pietersen now has four test hundreds here, and has moved level with Strauss and Cook’s career tallies — to stand joint-third on England’s all-time list. He and Bell were circumspect in the hour before lunch, adding 29 after Strauss was second out. But the first 10 overs of the afternoon proved especially punishing for India as 59 runs were plundered.
England therefore moved ominously back on course for a match-controlling total, in pursuit of a 4-0 series whitewash to consolidate their new-found world number one test status.
Those ambitions had hit a near immediate setback this morning. Cook swished his bat in frustration after following some away swing from Sharma and edging the fifth ball of the day to second slip.
It was an especially aggravating turn of events for a batsman renowned for his powers of concentration and so immovable during his career-best 294 at Edgbaston just last week. But had he known what was to come, he need not have been so hard on himself.
The same could be said for Strauss, who took an hour and 32 balls to add just two runs to his overnight 38 before going after some full-length width from Sreesanth and edging tamely behind.