Filed under: Cricket, England Cricket, Tests, India Cricket
Fourth Test Day Two (close): England 457-3 (Ian Bell 181no, Kevin Pietersen 175).Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen increased the misery and humiliation for India to build a platform for England's first win over India for at the Oval for over 50-years.
It was a case of stylish beauty of Bell and the the powerful beast of Pietersen as the pair bludgeoned India's bowlers all over the Oval with scarcely a hint of mercy to send more milestones tumbling.
When India demonstrated some long-awaited discipline and control to remove both Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook within the first hour, hopes were high of restoring some of the pride which has been surrendered with barely a whimper in losing the first three tests.
England v India Scorecard
Cook lasted only five balls before he was caught at slip off Ishant Sharma and Sree Sreesanth had the England captain caught behind, after Strauss spent an hour accumulating two runs.
India's aspirations and promise of a fight for pride disappeared as Pietersen and Bell formed a third wicket alliance which lasted over six hours and amassed exactly 350 runs to grind India into the dirt.
Pietersen's brutal assault on every bowler was eventually ended when he was caught and bowled by Suresh Raina for 175 with 15 minutes of play remaining, but it was scant cause for celebration for an Indian side which cannot wait for the tour to end.
On his way to his 19th Test match century Pietersen was dropped once by Gautam Gambhir, running back at mid-on and RPH Singh refused a potential catch at long-on, before he had reached his century as India once again demonstrated their litany of fielding weaknesses.
In contrast Bell, was chanceless as he moved towards his first Test double century, looking to exclipse his highest score of 199.
Between them Bell and Pietersen became the highest third wicket partnership against India and the highest third-wicket partnership for England at the Oval.
Bell was imperious in his timing and the Warwickshire batsman gave another convincing argument to his claim to be elevated above his county colleague Jonathan Trott to number three.
It was his second century of the summer at number three, coming from 181 balls and it was his 16th in Test match cricket.
REACTION:
Pietersen was happy to be part of a record partnership and able to entertain:
"It was nice to be able to strike the ball like that. It felt really good and to score almost 400 in a day was exceptional."
On how England had to battle to start with in the morning session:
"They came at us hard and they have some quality bowling in their side. You have to give credit to the batters in our team and the way we ground them down.
"We go out there with the intention of getting the opposition bowlers to bowl second and third spells."
On whether he was disappointed not to get another double hundred:
"A little bit, perhaps that is a little bit greedy, but if someone had offered me 175 in the morning I would have said thankyou very much."
On enjoying batting with Bell:
"When you have a batsman with you who is shorter than you it helps. The bowlers have to bowl different lengths and that does not help them.
"They drag their lengths back and that enables "Belly" to punch them off the back foot. It is great to have a combination like that.
On enjoying batting at the Oval:
"It is a really good place to bat. It was really difficult in the morning and it was hard to get through that. We had to battle and concentrate, but we stuck in there.
"The aim was to get through the early period and then try to get on top and we were fortunate to do that."
MEMORABLE MOMENT: Pietersen had to wait for his century during lunch after being left on 98, but his first ball after lunch showed his imperious best as he pulled the ball to the boundary to bring up his fourth century at the Oval.
PLAY OF THE DAY: Bell may well not have the brute force of Pietersen, or the arrogance and ego, but he can clear the ropes too. He demonstrated that with successive sixes off Amit Mishra to join in the fun with his partner.
WHAT IT MEANS: England could easily have taken their foot off the gas after reaching the top spot in the ICC rankings, but they demonstrated a ruthlessness rarely seen by an England side. That is a trait they are going to need if they want to remain at the top for an extended period of time. As for India you have to wonder how much more punishment they can take. It is painful to watch and unlikely to get alter any time soon.
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