Slaughter

Strauss misses another
opportunity

England's Test team came back to London and any suggestion that they think their job already completed was put to rest with a superb display of batting by Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen.

The Run Bank, Alastair Cook, was dismissed with a loose shot to Ishant Sharma in the first over  which was held by the normally unsafe hands of Virenda Sehwag at slip and Andrew Strauss dithered and dallied for an hour adding only a pittance before flashing a loose, poorly directed delivery from Sreesanth off the edge to Dhoni. At 2-97, Bell and Pietersen faced a hostile, difficult hour until lunch in which they earned their runs against an Indian attack which for once bowled good lines consistently.

After lunch, India returned with full bellies into the sunshine, their resistance left at the table with the entrée and it was the hungry English batsmen who feasted. The remainder of the day was a series of sumptuous courses and Bell and Pietersen, like well trained school boys, ate everything on or near their plate and most of what was on the adjoining table. India became more dreadful as the day became long. Any country 4th grade attack from the back blocks of an Australia state would be justified in attempting to qualify for India for they could bowl no worse and their sons in the U12's would certainly do a better job in the field. Sharma, for so long an offender in the category of listless, misdirected bowling in this series was the exception but even he fell apart in the final hour as Pietersen went berserk after first proving he was a batmen. The rest were rubbish.

Pietersen in smack mode

All of this makes light of the batsmen's achievement, which would be a serious mistake. England are well aware of the towelling they have handed India in this series. They have proven beyond dispute they deserve their new and much sought after ranking. Apart from some mishaps in the slips, they have never so completely dominated another side in a series in modern times, even improving on the shellacking they gave Ricky Ponting and his collection of unknown spinners. Yet, still they go on ... as the very best sides always did, today adding 382 in 97 overs. After a testing start, Bell and Pietesen added 350, the third highest third wicket stand in English history, in just 72 overs. They didn't so much grind India into the turf under the imposing image of the gasometer, it was more a splatter pattern they left there. In the end, Pietersen's soft return catch to Raina was proof that the big fellow is human but then, he always will be.

Bell square cuts precisely

Bell was exquisite and whilst its been said before, there is no one playing Test cricket who times his shots with greater perfection. As much as Adam Gilchrist was a renowned power hitter, his real gift was perfect timing and Bell has dipped into the same well. Its said that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and Bell, stripped of his dignity by Shane Warne, had looked murdered in the same way as Darryl Cullinan. Time, patience and hard bloody work have raised him to resurrection proving Nitschke an astute judge, for Bell is now mentally stronger than any of the Englishmen. Yet, even though he has regained that which Warne stole from him, his hunger for runs is insatiable. A later started, he and Cook will fight for the honour of the all time England run aggregate over the next six or seven years.

Here, with Pietersen batting in the perfect mix of belligerence and control, a partnership of 350 remained surpassed only in stands against Australia by Hutton & Leyland (382) in 1938 and Gooch and Gower (351) in 1985.

They say you are judged by the company you keep.