Live Test Match Blogging / Andrew Hughes / 11 August 2011 /

Bresnan and Broad did the damage on Wednesday, now England's batsmen have the stage. Andrew Hughes will be on hand to bring us the best of Thursday's betting opportunities from Edgbaston.

CLOSE England 456-3
Business as usual. England grind on, India offer little in return. The England lead is 232 runs, they have 7 wickets left and this has been a thoroughly dispiriting day for Indian fans, but a splendid one for the home crowd. Join me to tomorrow to see if the tourists can muster a counter attack.

18:52 England 455-3
Another entry for the worst dropped catch competition. Dravid tops his first effort earlier in the day when he put down a dolly from Bell by allowing an even simpler edge from Morgan to hit the turf. I think we have a winner!

18:36 England 432-3
Sachin is bowling! Which will come first, his next Test wicket or his next First Class hundred?

18:15 England 415-3
Unbelievable drop from Sreesanth. Sharma has troubled Morgan since he came on and really should have had his wicket there. Sharma is livid and you can hardly blame him. India are friendless in the match odds market, drifting out to [65.0] . Little chance of rain coming to the rescue, the forecast is for three days of cloud cover but nothing more serious than that.

17:50 England 400-3
India have turned to Raina which is splendid news for Eoin Morgan, England's best player of spin. He'll bat against that stuff all day long, it's the swing bowlers who are going to trouble him. England lead by 176 and pessimists amongst the Indian fans will fear that may already be enough. Can India turn this around? Have your say at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

WICKET Pietersen lbw b Praveen 63
Have to say that was coming, KP is not happy about it, but replays show it was the right decision. Playing around his front pad again and reward for Praveen's persistence. India are [50.0] at the moment and as mentioned earlier, Bopara and Morgan are England's weak point so it could be worth executing a little back to lay at that price, in the expectation of one or two more wickets falling in the next twenty minutes or so.

17:15 England 359-2
No sooner do I praise Pietersen than he reverts to the flapping, lungeing style that puts the spectator in mind of a giraffe caught in quicksand. He really is an extraordinary batsman, capable of looking like one of the all time greats one minute and a clumsy interloper the next.

16:55 England 342-2
More of the same from the England batsmen and India can't buy a wicket at the moment. Cook looks to have the top First Innings Batsman market sewn up on [1.1] but KP is available at [7.0] looks in imperious form and is catching his teammate rapidly

TEA England 317-2
Ditto. Another session, another England grind-fest. This is getting monotonous. India look as fresh as last week's lettuce and the second new ball has already been cracked against the boundary boards a few times. A twenty minute pause for tea, and then on with the carnage.

15:50 England 276-2
Stunning 6 from Pietersen who has eased to 24 in no time at all. What size will England's lead be? 200? 300? Get in touch at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

WICKET Bell b Praveen 34
Relief for India, one ball after Cook gets his century and a stunning leg cutter from Praveen. Little movement in the match odds market though. England lead by 28 runs and India's odds shorten a little to [32.0] That might be worth backing with a view to laying as Morgan and Bopara are the two most vulnerable England batsman and could go quickly. KP up next though.

15:05 England 232-1
India squandering chances like a beggar throwing away loose change. Dravid shelling a simple one after Sreesanth had found the edge of Bell's bat.

14:45 England 217-1
Mishra is posing Cook one or two problems, inducing an edge from the Essex opener, but it falls harmlessly where a close fielder would have been. India are in defensive mode, the fielders scattered long ago. Bell looks in supreme form. He's currently 50 odd runs behind Cook and 60 behind Strauss but Cook is not exactly racing along. [6.0] about Bell finishing as top England First Innings batsman looks worth a go.

WICKET Strauss b Mishra 87
Well that came out of the blue. Strauss bowled whilst attempting a sweep. It even seemed to surprise Mishra. England just 37 runs behind on first innings and out walks Ian Bell, in the form of his life. And it looks like Mishra's delivery was a no-ball. Strauss was unlucky.

14:12 England 182-0
Praveen is getting some swing but Mishra is bowling far too short. This is as one-sided as it gets and to be honest, it's becoming a bit monotonous. England becoming number one is a good thing of course, but it would be nice to see a contest along the way. So what is going on? Are England a fantastic team or is the general standard of Test cricket pretty ordinary at the moment? Have your say at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

13:45 England 157-0
Plenty of clouds around but no sign of rain at the moment. England will look to grind on this afternoon, perhaps reaching 270 or so by tea. Strauss needs 16 for his century. Those who backed him to top score for England at [2.58] can think about laying him off at around [1.89]

LUNCH 156-0
Total dominance from England. India needed 3-4 wickets this session but they finish empy handed and the home side are just 67 runs behind with their entire batting order in tact. I'm off for a cup of tea and an enormous sandwich. Back in 40 minutes.

12:40 England 126-0
Strauss is going strong and heading for a century, but he's poor value at [5.2] in the top series batsman market, given how far he is behind. Ian Bell is only 60 runs or so behind Kevin Pietersen and worth considering at [3.0] particularly if he continues to get the opportunity to bat at 3.

12:15 England 105-0
Remarkable statistic - Strauss and Cook are now second on the list of all time England opening century partnerships, behind only Hobbs and Sutcliffe. Sharma is on but not to any great effect so far. England strolling to that number one ranking. This is very disappointing stuff from India

11:50 England 94-0
Some swing for Sreesanth and co but no alarms yet for the England bowlers and it's all a little cagey out there. India creeping up in the match odds market and you can get [17.0] if you fancy a fightback. But no signs that they are going to break through any time soon.

11:35 England 89-0
A gentle loosener of an over from Sreesanth to get us underway. There is cloud cover around but patches of blue sky. Still the Indian swing bowlers could not ask for better conditions. Can they take advantage?

11:15 England 84-0
Is India's poor form this series an indication of their inability to cope on pitches that are not typically sub-continental? We thought those days were over, but they've once again been undone by bounce, seam movement and swing. Have your say at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

11:00 England 84-0
Good news from Edgbaston, we're set for an 11:30 start. While we wait, worth looking at the Top England First Innings Batsman market, where Andrew Strauss is the [2.58] favourite and is attractive at that price. He's already got a half-century under his belt on what could be a tough day for batting

10:45 England 84-0
Not a great deal of value in the match odds market. England are [1.38] which on the face of it is a touch short, given the way that India bowled yesterday. But in the hope that they will be able to exploit today's overcast conditions, I will dabble on the tourists at [15.5] which is probably too high.

10:40 England 84-0
Morning all, things look distinctly soggy in Brum today, the covers are still on and there's drizzle about. But the forecast is fairly optimistic. While we wait for play to start, have your say on the Test so far at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk Are England strolling to that number one ranking or will we see that much awaited Indian fightback?

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