Chasing a mammoth 664, England were 326 for nine at close, still 338 runs behind India's score. The hosts needed to score another 139 runs to avoid following on.
Anil Kumble seems to be unstoppable in the third Test. After scoring his maiden Test hundred a day ago Kumble returned to his familiar role, leading the Indian bowling charge as the visitors raced to a commanding position in the third Test.
Chasing a mammoth 664, England were 326 for nine at close, still 338 runs behind India's score. The hosts needed to score another 139 runs to avoid following on.
But it was Kumble who crippled England with a customary gritty performance with the red cherry. The Bangalorean was somewhat overshadowed by the stellar performance of pace bowlers in the last two Tests at Lord's and Trent Bridge. But on a wicket that offered a hint of bounce, Kumble came into his own, chipping in with two important wickets. Kumble, who equalled Australian Glenn McGrath’s tally of 563 wickets, inflicted his first blow on England when he dismissed Alistair Cook, who looked set for a big one as luck too favoured the left-handed opener. The lanky player got two reprieves when he was on 13 and 28. In the first instance, Dinesh Kaarthick dropped a sitter at leg gully off S Sreesanth, and the next time Sourav Ganguly grassed a tougher chance at the same position off Kumble.
But Kumble had the last laugh. The wily campaigner marginally spun the ball into the left-hander and whose attempt to work the ball to the on side ended in spooning a simple catch to Rudra Pratap Singh.
If England imagined that Kumble had finished his act, they were proved horribly wrong as he scalped, probably, the most prized wicket of the home side. Michael Vaughan has been in great touch of late and the Oval has been one of his favourite hunting grounds as well.
Bigger things
The majestic pull he played against Zaheer Khan indicated bigger things to come. But Kumble allayed whatever concerns there were in the Indian camp soon. He foxed England skipper with a googly on the off-stump and the Yorkshire batsman's effort to turn the ball to the on-side resulted in him scooping a tame return catch.
Vaughan's dismissal pushed England to 124 for four. But Kevin Pietersen and Collingwood shared a 78-run partnership for the fifth-wicket to raise visions of an England fightback. Pietersen played an innings according to the situation, curbing his natural aggressive instincts. But the Hampshire batsman was not reticent to play the occasional expansive drives or those muscular whips off the pad when he was given an opportunity to do so.
Collingwood, at the other end, gave staunch support to Pietersen, batting with a great degree of responsibility and assuredness. The alliance gradually, but surely, carried England to safer waters before Sachin Tendulkar decided to display his well documented skill of breaking partnerships. The Mumbaikar was handed the ball in the penultimate over before tea, and he did not disappoint either, dismissing Pietersen on the first delivery.
The ball spun massively away from Pietersen and the latter could not resist the temptation to flash his blade, but his strong swing only produced a timid outside edge for skipper Rahul Dravid to complete a routine catch at first slip. Dravid, normally a composed person, allowed himself to indulge in an animated celebration that expressed the value of the wicket they had just earned. Collingwood, who scored his sixth Test fifty, continued to frustrate Indians in the company of Ian Bell, who went on to score his 13th Test fifty. They milked 86 runs for a stubborn sixth wicket partnership that at one stage appeared to steer the hosts through the day.
Reward
Sreesanth, who toiled manfully throughout the day, finally got his reward when he trapped Collingwood in front of the wicket. Bell too soon trudged back to the hut when he edged Zaheer to Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the wicket. His dismissal opened the floodgates as England lost four wickets to the second new ball in the space of 45 balls for a mere 16 runs. The Indian bowlers' performance on a pitch that still holds together was a lesson for their English counterparts as the former set displayed the merits of pitching the ball in the right areas.
With two days still to go, India's hopes of a 2-0 series win looks a certainty than ever before.
INDIA (I Innings): 664
ENGLAND (I Innings):
Strauss c Sreesanth b Zaheer 6
(19m, 13b, 1x4)
Cook c RP Singh b Kumble 61
(147m, 98b, 11x4)
Anderson lbw RP Singh 16
(72m, 48b, 3x4)
Vaughan c&b Kumble 11
(56m, 36b, 2x4)
Pietersen c Dravid b Tendulkar 41
(125m, 107b, 4x4)
