Day 2:Cook 's Ton Puts England In Total Control

Team India started the Day 2 of the ongoing 3rd Test in the hope of taking their score to some respectable total but couldn't managed do so as they got out in just first of hour of the morning with M.S.Dhoni being the last mam to fall.He hit a half-century before his dismissal.He made 52 runs off 158 balls which helped India get past 300 runs,as they made 316 runs in total.Monty Panesar again proved like a headache for India as he picked total 4 wickets with 2 wickets in the morning today itself.Now,It was upto the Indian bowlers to take back India into the game but English openers had some other plans in their mind for Indian bowling attack.

Both the openers,Alastair Cook and Nick Compton,played sensibly and maturily especially Cook.Indian team got the chance of dismissing him early but Cheteshwar Pujara dropped his catch in slips off the bowling of Zaheer Khan when was just at 17 runs but after this he didn't looked back and went on to hit his 23rd Test century which makes him the leading century maker English batsmen in history surpassing Walley Hammond and team-mate Kevin Pietersen.He also completed 7000 Test runs and he is the youngest batsman to reach this milestone surpassing cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar with an age of 27 years and 347 days.

On the other hand,Nick Compton reached his maiden half-century but got out soon after as he was given leg before wicket off the bowling of Pragyan Ojha.He was the only man to got out for the English Team today as at the end of the day's play,Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott were not out at 136 and 21 runs respectively.

Brief Scores:-

India: 316 all out (105.0 overs)

S.Tendulkar: 76 (202)                                M.Panesar: 4/90 (40.0)

G.Gambhir: 60 (169)                                  J.Anderson: 3/89 (28.0)

England: 216/1 (73.0 overs)

A.Cook: 136* (236)                                 P.Ojha: 1/65 (19.0)

N.Compton: 57 (137)                               I.Sharma: 0/35 (15.0)

Anderson Helps England Take Control Of Day 1 Of 3rd Test

The 3rd Test of the series between India and England at Kolkata's Eden Garden here today. The Indian captain M.S.Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first.English team came into this match with only 4 bowlers.Both the teams made only changes as England brought in Steven Finn in place of Stuart Broad and India brought Ishant Sharma in place of Harbhajan Singh.

Both the Indian openers started well by adding 47 runs for first wicket as Virender Sehwag got run out.Indians were at good stage once till they lost their 3rd wicket in the form of Gautam Gambhir.He made 60 off 124 balls.After his dismissal,no other batsmen could perform well except Sachin Tendulkar who struck his first half-century in nearly last 10 Tests.He got caught behind off the bowling of James Anderson.He made 76 runs which also included 13 fours.He was the sixth wicket to fall.

After his dismissal,Dhoni and Ashwin tried to hold on for rest of the day but Ashwin was clean bowled by Anderson in 89th over after England took the second new ball.At the end of the day's play,Dhoni and Zaheer Khan were at the crease 22 and 0 runs respectively.James Anderson was the hero of the day as he took 3 wickets

Brief Scores:-
India: 273/7 (90.0 overs)
S.Tendulkar: 76 (155)                             J.Anderson: 3/68 (21.0)
G.Gambhir: 60 (124)                              M.Panesar: 2/74 (35.0) 

It Is "Immoral" To Ask For Turning Pitches:Pitch Curator

The pitch curator of Eden Gardens,venue for 3rd Test of ongoing Test series between India and England,has criticised MS Dhoni for his demand of turning pitch by calling it as "Immoral".The pitch curator of Kolkata's Eden Garden is Prabir Mukherjee.He has also demanded a month's leave from work.


Prabir Mukherjee said, "Why does M.S. Dhoni want square turner on the first day? Then why are you selling tickets for five days? It's immoral." He also said, "I have not resigned but asked for a month's leave.I am not loving this atmosphere and not happy that Cricket Association of Bengal did not support me."

The 3rd Test of the series will start on December 5.Currentely,the series is tied at 1-1 with India losing the Mumbai Test where Dhoni had also asked for the turning pitch.