England 198 & 43-0 India 481: Middle men make hosts pay lip service to fighting their corner

England will need divine intervention or divine batting in their second innings if they are to avoid defeat in the second Test after a third consecutive day of Indian domination here yesterday. But with the weather forecast set fair for the remainder of the Test, it is to Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen that Michael Vaughan will be looking for inspiration rather than the sky above Nottingham.

The capabilities of India's much-vaunted but ageing middle order were questioned in the build-up to the Test, with many feeling that their powers were on the wane, but they have responded wonderfully here over the past two days. Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V V S Laxman each made a significant contribution, backing up the fighting half-centuries posted by Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer on Saturday.

Even a dogged 37 from Rahul Dravid, the India captain, played its part as the visitors amassed 481, a total that gave the tourists a first-innings lead of 283. England safely negotiated an awkward 16-over session before the close yesterday, with Strauss and Cook putting on 43 runs. The pair will need to occupy the crease for a considerable period today if England are to depart from Trent Bridge with a chance of winning the series. Defeat would leave Vaughan's side needing to win the final Test at The Oval to avoid their first home series loss since 2001, when they were beaten by Australia.

England's frustration was highlighted in the evening session when a bat-pointing Zaheer Khan confronted Pietersen over a comment directed at him from the slip cordon. The umpires stepped in to calm matters down before having a word with England's stand-in captain, Strauss - Vaughan was off the field.

It was the second time this summer an England player has seen an opponent walk towards him in such a manner. Runako Morton did the same to James Anderson during the one-day series against the West Indies after the bowler had petulantly shoulder-barged him.

England will play the latest incident down, saying that nothing much was said and Zaheer overreacted, but the behaviour of the side is becoming tiresome. Worryingly, it is setting an awful example to those who play club cricket,whose conduct is getting worse.

Aggression and intent are words uttered at almost every England press conference, but what exactly do they apply to? Any fool can abuse or make caustic comments to an opponent from behind the stumps but it is men of substance and character who keep fighting and working when times are hard.

England, however, were noticeably subdued while India's middle order were collecting their runs. Hardly a word was said when Tendulkar was batting - could it be that the England players want a signed item of kit from the great man at the end of the series? It was only when he had disappeared and wickets were being taken that the chirping and so-called aggression returned.

India began the third day on 254 for 3 and with a lead of 56 runs. England needed early wickets but they failed to come with the second new ball as India worked themselves in to a commanding position. Plans A and B, which involved giving Chris Tremlett the new ball ahead of Anderson and Monty Panesar an early bowl, brought England no success in the opening session, forcing Vaughan to turn to plan C - Paul Collingwood - after lunch. Tendulkar cut the medium-pacer's third ball dismissively to the backward-point boundary for four before padding up to the final ball of the over. The innocuous delivery seamed ever so slightly back in to the "Little Master" and flicked his left pad, causing Collingwood to offer a rather hopeful appeal.

When the umpire Simon Taufel raised his finger Tendulkar stood in his crease in disbelief for a full five seconds before beginning the long walk back to the dressing room. It was an uncharacteristic reaction, brought on as much by the disappointment of failing to reach three figures after putting in so much hard work as the poor nature of the umpire's decision.

Tendulkar's batting may not possess the authority it once had but he is still a fine player, and the 34-year-old showed that he is prepared to scrap for runs if need be on Saturday when he recovered from a nasty blow on the head to post an important half-century. Before reaching 50 for the 81st time in his Test career, Tendulkar became the third batsman to pass 11,000 Test runs. Only Brian Lara - 11,953 - and Allan Border - 11,174 - have scored more.

Tendulkar's determination to give India a match-winning lead was highlighted in the first hour of play yesterday when he skilfully negotiated the second new ball. The best of England's bowlers was Ryan Sidebottom, who conceded just seven runs in an excellent nine-over spell.

Tendulkar's approach changed when Panesar was brought on and he smacked him twice through the off side for four. A 38th Test hundred seemed inevitable before Taufel was won over by Collingwood's appeal.

Ganguly batted beautifully, too, timing the ball superbly through the off side. It was he who dominated the 96-run partnership with Tendulkar, striking eight boundaries and one six in an elegant half-century. It is widely felt that Ganguly does not fancy short-pitched bowling, but England overused the tactic against the left-hander. Tremlett was consistently too short while a frustrated Anderson went searching for wickets and bowled too many bad balls.

Ganguly was equally distraught when he was given out caught behind on 79. Cramp had limited the former India captain's running between the wickets but not his strokeplay when he was adjudged to have edged a leg-side delivery off Tremlett. Television replays suggested leather had not touched willow, making Ganguly's reaction understandable.

Mahendra Dhoni provided Sidebottom with a much-deserved wicket, but Laxman and Anil Kumble continued to pile on the agony. Accurate bowling tied Laxman down after he had scored an elegant half-century and, in an attempt to break free, he edged Tremlett through to Matthew Prior. Kumble gave England's wicketkeeper a fifth catch in Tremlett's next over before Panesar cleaned up the Indian tail.

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