3rd Test: Cook, Trott help England stay in control

Captain hits 190 as tourists take 193-run lead by stumps.

England continued from where they left off on day two, cementing their authority on the third Test against India and piling on a 193 lead with four wickets in hand at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Although skipper Alastair Cook (190) was unable to complete a double century, his 173-run stand with Jonathan Trott (87) for the second wicket was enough to drop the Indian heads in the field.

Cook was run out in a bizarre fashion – his bat in the air while he tried to avoid a Virat Kohli throw – but Kevin Pietersen added a belligerent 54 and the unbroken 56-run stand between Matt Prior and Graeme Swann helped the tourists close the day on 506 for six.

Cook, who had scored an England record 23rd Test century on day two, was less fluent on his return and was reprieved on 152 when Ishant Sharma put down the simplest of return catches.

The series is currently poised 1-1, with India winning the first Test in Ahmedabad  by seven wickets, and England securing the second by 10 wickets in Mumbai.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2012.