Live Test Match Blogging / Andrew Hughes / 12 August 2011 /

If this were a boxing match, the crowd would be booing and throwing stuff by now. Will India show a bit of fight on Day Three? Andrew Hughes will be following the action in Birmingham and highlighting the best bets throughout Friday's play

CLOSE India 35-1
That's it, play is over for the day and India are just about hanging in there, with an awful lot of work to do if they are to come away with a draw. It was all about Cook today and I have a feeling that tomorrow could be Graeme Swann's day. Join me at 10:30

18:30 India 17-1
That draw price has shot out to [10.0] after Sehwag's dismissal. A pretty irresponsible shot, but then there will be some who defend him and the way he plays. Which side of the fence are you on? Have your say at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

18:10 India 5-1
It will take an enormous effort for India even to get to the last day, before they can even consider drawing the game. Another wicket or two tonight and it could all collapse pretty quickly. I still have a sneaky feeling though that we will see a stiffer fight from the tourists tomorrow and you can back a Day Five Morning finish at [5.2]

WICKET Sehwag c Strauss b Anderson 0
Viru has other things to do tomorrow, clearly. A wild swish at a length ball and a ridiculously casual dismissal.

WICKET Cook c Raina b Sharma 294
Bad news for Cook but good for the game, it was getting farcical out there. The declaration comes immediately and England can press home their advantage tonight. The lead is 486

17:32 England 689-6
Against all expectation, common sense has prevailed and the players are back out there now. But I wonder for how long. This changes the equation a little, because with England's faster bowlers preparing to tear in, we might not see much more play if the declaration came now. The draw has shortened to [5.8]

17:20 England 670-6
Ridiculous decision by the umpires. The players all troop off for bad light. Why? Who is in danger? England are cruising along. Test cricket is in trouble all around the world and this sort of thing does nothing to promote it.

17:00 England 670-6
While we wait for Cook to crawl over the line, worth looking at the Test Match End market. The current favourite is Day 4 Evening at [3.0] but I just have a sneaky feeling that India are going to bat with a lot more determination and have the ability to take it to the final day, which is [5.4]

16:42 England 651-6
The new ball has been taken, not sure that is a great decision from Dhoni as it will come off the bat more quickly and enable Cook to get that 300, at which point, we imagine the declaration will come. Pretty turgid cricket though at the moment. Is Strauss right to let Cook grind on or should he have declared by now? Have your say at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

TEA England 646-6
A twenty-minute respite for the tourists and a chance for the rest of us to stretch our legs. No sign of the declaration as yet and the suggestion is that Cook will be given half a session or so to get his triple hundred. But England will surely want to have a bowl tonight.

WICKET Prior c Tendulkar b Mishra 5
The much delayed England collapse is finally taking place, about 150 runs later than planned. Nice catch by Tendulkar. India's price has fallen dramatically. Not really. They are [210.0] You can still get [6.2] about the draw, but there doesn't appear to be much metereological help on the way on Days Three and Four.

WICKET Bopara lbw b Mishra
You have to feel sorry for Ravi. Sat in the dressing room for hours waiting for his chance and then that happens. But it really is ominous for the Indian batsmen that Raina and Mishra are now getting the ball to turn so much

WICKET Morgan c Sehwag b Raina 104
That was unexpected! Bit of flight from Raina and Morgan couldn't control the cover drive. Good news for Graeme Swann. And now Bopara gets a chance to bat. But for how long? Should Strauss be declaring now? Have your say at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

14:53: England 563-3
And now we're back. The light looks the same to me, but what do I know, I'm just a spectator. Well my backing India at [100.0] is not looking my wisest ever bet. They are currently [280.0] I think I mentioned they needed to bowl England out for under 550. They've not quite managed to do that.

14:35 England 563-3
At last, some drama and excitement at Edgbaston. There's been a power cut. And that means no floodlights and so the players go off. It isn't really that dark out there and frankly these two could play Mishra and Raina blindfold, but there we go, that's the joy of Test cricket.

14:10 England 537-3
Mishra is on and again with the no-balls. Can anyone think of another international spinner who bowls so many no-balls? Get in touch at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

13:45 England 516-3
We're off again. Cook is plodding on towards 250 and there's a century for the taking should Morgan want it. But let's look ahead to the top Indian 2nd inns batsman market. Michael Vaughan, in his excellent in-play article went for Sachin on the grounds that he is bound to come good sooner or later and he is the best player in the team. That makes a lot of sense, but I've just got a feeling that Gautam Gambhir could be the man for a fight. He can be backed at [6.2]

LUNCH England 503-3
Early lunch has been taken so we will back in 40 minutes to talk about the Indian second innings batsman market and in the hope that events move rather more quickly than they have this morning.

12:45 England 503-3
Hello, things have livened up out there. It's raining.

12:40 England 503-3
England go on and on. India have brought Raina on to no great effect. India's price in the match odds market is now [280.0] But it might as well be double that as they have shown zero cutting edge this morning. To break the monotony while England saunter to 600, we can have a look at the top Indian 2nd Inns Batsman market.

12:15 England 482-3
Better from India, but England are content to just see out the first session and start picking up the scoring rate when the bowlers begin to tire. Alastair Cook grinds on. It's impressive to watch, in a Tavare kind of way. Is Cook the dullest batsman of the modern era? Who would you say fits that description? Let me know at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

11:45 England 470-3
We're underway again. Let's hope there isn't too much more of the damp stuff. If there is, and India do manage to put up stiffer resistance in the second innings, then the draw, currently priced at [6.6] comes into play. But we'll need to see some signs of life from the tourists first.

11:37: England 468-3
Looks like it was just a short delay, we are due to restart at 11:40. Let's hope India have reconsidered their tactics during that unplanned interval.

11:20 England 468-3
And it's raining in Birmingham, so off go the players. Not sure how long this delay will be, the rain looks as though it's getting heavier. India's tactics this morning already look wrong. With so much cloud cover around, they should be pitching it up looking for swing, instead they seem content to try to bore Cook out with wide balls. They are in a defensive mindset at the moment and though it is hard, they have to start thinking more ppositively.

11:10 England 467-3
Of course, it all depends on India sorting themselves out. Limp bowling from Ishant and Praveen to get us underway and Morgan has fifty.

11:00 England 456-3
India's batting line-up is, after all, supposedly the best in the world. They have 600 runs in them. And with a bit of assistance from a wearing pitch, they'd have a shot at bowling England out. It's possibly towards the outer limits of sensible, but I've talked myself into backing India at [100.0] Even if they don't pull it off, any sort of significant fightback might allow us to lay off at shorter odds later on. Am I crazy? Let me know what you think about India's chances at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

10:55 England 456-3
Still, in a contrarian spirit, let's see if we can make a case for an Indian win in this match, an eventuality you can currently back at [95.0] What would they have to do? Bowl England out for less than 550. Score 600. Bowl England out again for less than 300 on a last day pitch. It isn't impossible and though it sounds faintly ridiculous, Test cricket regularly surprises us.

10:35 England 456-3
I'm not sure I'd go along with Michael Vaughan's argument that the BCCI are making the Indian players play too much cricket. A number of them didn't go on the West Indies tour so had plenty of rest coming into this tour. And the IPL is not compulsory. They could opt to miss it, as Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson have done with the forthcoming big bash. I think it's letting the Indian players off lightly to blame the schedules.

10:30 England 456-3
Morning all. Before we get underway, take a look at Michael Vaughan's excellent in-play betting advice. He's tipping a Day 4 afternoon finish, although frankly if India don't start showing some fight, this could be virtually over today.

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