A pristine pitch, a set of largely listless bowlers and luck with the toss, ingredients were there in the right proportions for the Indian batsmen to cash in. They seldom did a wrong thing while pulverising the English attack with a batting exhibition of the highest order before an umpiring error allowed the hosts to gain some foothold.
Barring the odd blip, the first day of the third Test belonged to India as they amassed 316 for four at close. Sachin Tendulkar and V V S Laxman, who completed 5000 runs in his 83rd Test, were at the crease.

But it was on the exploits of Dinesh Kaarthick that India built their tall score. A far from fluent Tendulkar and Ganguly consolidated Kaarthick's work with a stand of 77 runs for the fourth wicket that was spread over nearly one and a half sessions.

Tendulkar might have had his heart in the mouth when Ryan Sidebottom drew him forward with a delivery angled away from the batsman. But Matt Prior messed up with the chance behind the wicket. The Mumbaikar was on 20 then.

Ganguly looked poised for another good knock, but umpire Ian Howell made a shocker of a decision. Paul Collingwood's delivery clearly took the inside edge of the Kolkatan's bat before hitting his pads, but the South African upheld the appeal for leg before.

Kaarthick, earlier, played an exceptional innings en route to a superb 91 after a sedate beginning. The Tamil Nadu youngster took his time to gauge the pitch and the marginal assistance it had offered in the initial 30 minutes or so of play, but once he got his eye in Kaarthick, who milked 127 runs for the second wicket with skipper Rahul Dravid, played some elegant shots, particularly through the cover region.

Good shot selection
The feature of his batting was shot selection. Kaarthick offered a bat as wide as barn door to anything that he felt remotely threatening and then transformed his willow into an unforgiving guillotine when he was offered width.

Chris Tremlett was perceived to be a big threat for the Indian batsmen because of his ability to extract bounce from the pitch – Tremlett did so on many occasions – but Kaarthick adopted an aggressive approach that baffled the bowler.

Kaarthick started dismantling Tremlett with a drive on the up through the covers that fetched him four runs, and subsequently dispatched the towering paceman to different parts of the ground.

With Kaarthick brilliantly neutralising Tremlett, England skipper Michael Vaughan brought Monty Panesar on. The move had some effect as both Kaarthick and Dravid played the left-arm spinner with certain degree of caution. But the former broke the shackles with a shot that could probably be termed as the best of the day.

Panesar dropped one a tad short and Kaarthick jumped out of the crease to hoist him over the covers with an inside out shot. It set the Indian scoreboard in motion as the run rate soared over four-run mark once again. The only jarring note of his innings was a chance he offered when on 58. Andrew Strauss grassed an uppish drive off Panesar.

At the other end Dravid was a picture of concentration and looked determined to get a good score against his name from the outset. He played some delectable shots through square of the wicket off James Anderson as India piled on England's misery.

It took that willing workhorse called Anderson to break the burgeoning alliance. The Lancashire youngster bowled a perfect yorker that sneaked between Dravid's bat and feet to disturb the woodwork. The wicket seemed to spur Anderson as he peppered Tendulkar with a barrage of short deliveries and the Mumbaikar had some uncomfortable moments.

Kaarthick out
Kaarthick too perished soon to Sidebottom. The disappointment on Kaarthick's face was palpable and he had good reasons to be disappointed with himself as a moment of carelessness destroyed almost a day's effort.
Earlier, in the morning, Wasim Jaffer, usually a reluctant starter, went off the block in top gear, executing some handsome shots especially on the on side. There was even an uncharacteristic chip over point off Anderson that went all the way for maximum, but soon the bowler had his revenge.

SCORE BOARD
INDIA (I Innings):

Kaarthick c Prior b Sidebottom 91
(218m, 151b, 10x4 1x6)

Jaffer c Pietersen b Anderson 35
(71m, 47b, 6x4, 1x6)

Dravid b Anderson 55
(130m, 101b, 8x4)

Tendulkar (batting) 48
(191m, 132b, 5x4)

Ganguly lbw Collingwood 37
(128m, 77b, 4x4, 1x6)

Laxman (batting) 20
(48m, 37b, 2x4)

Extras (B-21, LB-2, W-2, NB-5) 30

Total (for four wickets in 90 overs) 316

Fall of wickets: 1-62 (Jaffer), 2-189 (Dravid), 3-199 (Kaarthick), 4-276 (Ganguly),

Bowling: Sidebottom 25-5-75-1, Anderson 20-5-86-2 (w-1), Tremlett 23-4-60-0 (w-1, nb-4), Panesar 19-2-71-0, Collingwood 3-1-4-1 (nb-1).