Live Test Match Blogging / Ed Hawkins / 18 December 2008 /

Ed "The Hawkeye" Hawkins will be with us from 8.30 am on Saturday to talk us through the action at the crease, the stats, the betting and other cricket and biscuit-related topics. Remember to e-mail him at hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk with any thoughts or queries.

11.00 India 435 CLOSE
That's your lot, folks. I am full of the festive spirit after Flintoff mopped up the tail - a bit like Scrogge on Xmas morning after all those ghosts visited him. Where's Tom Cratchett when you need him? I'll buy you a new leg sonny! Day Three Verdict is on it way.

10.50 India 453
Merry Christmas everyone! Flintoff cleans up Mishra to go level with Swann on wickets over the series and claim top wicket-taker rights for the innings. Bring me a figgy pudding, bring me a figgy pudding, bring me a figgy pudding, bring me a figgy pudding ... right now! Is that how the song goes?

10.45 India 453-9
I'm getting twitchy. I'm eyeing the Xmas tree in the corner and at the same time the Zippo lighter. Flintoff wasted an over against the tailenders, meaning Swann has a chance to go farther in front from these next six balls.

10.35 India 446-9
Andrew Flintoff has bowled Zaheer, sending him and his wooly jumper back to the pavilion. I needed that, too. I'm on Fred for top England series bowler and he is lagging one behind Graeme Swann. If Fred doesn't manage the feat, and I don't believe this is an overreaction, I shall bloody well cancel Christmas. Mop up the tail, Freddie.

10.25 India 440-8
We've briefly gone back in time in Mohali.Zaheer Khan is wearing a proper cricket jumper, a rare sight these days on the professional cricket field. And he appears to have regressed to childhood, too having a spat with Kevin Pietersen. Zaheer tells the umpire 'he started it'. Apparently KP told him that 'my dad could beat your dad up'.

10.20 India 435-8
Useful lower order runs in Mohali. SA start to implode in Perth as calm is restored on the streets.

10.05 India 418-8
Harbhajan Singh has gone now, which was annoying because I had just written a nice little bit about why India should be backed at [2.50]. They are [3.40] now. Still, there'll be back there shortly. The argument was based on the draw taking up so much of the market. Yes, we understand why it is so short but there is a fair amount of assumption underpinning the [1.41]. Punters assume that England will score well - and from the off, too. What if India took a couple of wickets with the new ball? A nice little back and lay.

10.00 India 418-7
MS Dhoni has whacked one into the hands of Owais Shah as India lose their seventh wicket. Shah. We haven't heard much about him have we? Probably because he's not playing but often a guy's stock can rise more when he is out of the side than in. In my mind he should replace Ian Bell, who is no way near consistent enough.

09.50 India 410-6
Over in Perth, South Africa continue to pull apart the fabric of Australia's society. If they win, the locals will start robbing drug stores and selling their babies. That is how I imagine society would break down anyway. Graeme Smith has an unbeaten century and Hashim Amla, doing suprisingly well on a bouncy pitch considering he wet himself at the short stuff in the summer, is 43 not out. SA are 163-1. In Mohali, Harbhajan Singh is scoring useful runs as England teeter on the edge of a series defeat.

09.40 India 395-6
Monty Panesar's troubles on this tour have been well-documented. He has bowled poorly but few have made the point that it is wholly unfair to expect him to dominate. Better spinners than him (Warne averaged more than 40) have struggled in India. The argument that spinners should have success in the country because the wickets are conducive is completely overshadowed by the fact that Indian batsmen can play turn with a Vildea Super Mop.

09.30 India 379-6
Ooooh, a wicket. That was the last thing I was expecting, especially as Monty Panesar was the one doing the bowling, removing Yuvraj. Monty jumped up and down like he had just reduced the hosts to 79 for six rather than 379 for six. It's over Monty, come to terms with it.

09.25 India 375-5
We have three Test matches going on around the world at the moment. Undoubtedly the most interesting is the contest between Australia and South Africa in Perth. Watching Australia get beat at cricket has to be one of the all-time favourite past times. It goes beyond sport. You can almost see Australian society crumbling before your eyes because of the ludicrous importance they attach to their national side. That happens when a country relies on dominance in one sport as 'culture'. South Africa are 134-1 chasing 414 to win. It would be lovely to see them win because the mumblings of disconent are already beginning. I don't think they will, though and Australia, at [1.66], could be considered value if they drift to [1.70].

09.15 India 365-5
Mince pies aside, it is interesting to sit and think for a moment what one would do without milk for cereal. Water is the most obvious substitute but failing that (I know, a world water shortage is as far-fetched as the cow population mysteriously dying out) you could just eat the cereal on its own. To that end it would be good to hear your top 3 of cereals which would almost be impossible to eat without milk or water. I'm going for 1 Shredded Wheat 2 All Bran 3 Golden Grahams

09.05 India 356-5
We're back live now in Mohali after tea. I have had my breakfast, although it was not as healthy as yesterday's effort. A mince pie was the order of the day because I didn't have any milk for cereal and I was damned if I was going to go and buy it. It looks far too cold out there. Mince pies are interesting food stuffs, of course, because they are not made of mince at all. I imagine when mince pies first came out, there were a huge number of disgruntled customers jamming the phone lines, arguing they had been conned.

08.55 India 356-5 TEA
The last seven times India have batted first and scored 400 or more (something which should not be beyond them in Mohali) they have won two and drawn the rest. It shows how difficult it is for sides to force a result when such time is taken out of a game. In 52 Tests at home when India have batted first and scored 400 or more, they have lost only twice

08.45 India 356-5 TEA
It could have been an awful lot worse for the tourists. They managed only their second wicket of the Test after 109.5 overs, when Gautam Gambhir fell for 179 with the score on 320. So with four wickets falling for 36, they have fought back. But they still dropped the turkey. This morning they had a great chance to take wickets with reverse swing or a new ball their weapon of choice. Instead, India batted England out of the Test. And for all the positive stuff being spouted by Rob Key and Alec Stewart at the moment in their punditry roles, the harsh fact is that England are as big as [40.00] for victory. India are [3.40] and the draw is [1.34].

08.30 India 366-5
A good old fashioned thumping this, so far for England. Bless 'em, things haven't gone to plan but few things at this time of year do. It's a bit like turning up at grans for Christmas without the presents or dropping the turkey on the floor after remvoing it from the oven.

10.40 India 179-1 CLOSE
That's it for the day. Play will start half and hour early tomorrow that is no guarantee of play because it was too dark this morning and there was a delay. The Day One Verdict will be with you soon. In the meantime, enjoy the festive atmosphere wherever you are and come back tomorrow for some fun and frolics.

10.35 India 179-1 BAD LIGHT
The response for office Xmas party stories has been good. AB wants to know whether he should admit to sleeping in his boss's office and vomiting in the bin. I think it's a resigning matter. And as for Dave and his liason with the new girl from accounts, keep it to yourself, this is a family blog.

10.20 India 179-1
Well, this is disappointing. Still 18 overs left in the day as bad light stops play. I won't get on my hobby horse again about this bad light rule ... actually I will. Stay out there and the fielding side has to bowl spinners from both ends. Over the course of a series it will be the same for both sides. Anyway, if we are going to lose 18 overs a day because of the light - and at this time of year in Mohali this is not unusual - then it will be hard to see how there will be enough time for England to recover from this position.

10.15 India 179-1
The umpires have twice checked their light meters in the last few minutes. It is 3.40pm local time and there are 19 overs left. This does not bode well for draw layers if we are going to lose this amount of time each day.

10.10 India 177-1
I expect that if you are at work this morning, there could be a few red faces. I mean, isn't the Thursday before Xmas normally the night reserved for the office party? And that can only mean that someone, usually the quiet chap in the cardigan who works the photocopier (as if that is a job), has embarrassed himself or others. That could be in the form of copping off with the boss's wife or turning up in leather trousers, snorting coke in the toilets and then returning to his work station to do something obscene with said photocopier. Whatever happened doesn't really matter. But what does matter is that you email me at hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk and I'll try to offer advice about the way forward

10.00 India 172-1
I've found a YouTube clip of the Bad Superman that I was going on about earlier. https://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XY3dxb5OpIw
It opens with Superman crash landing into the car scrapyard after one too many spirits. It may be a metaphor from something about drink driving.
Alas, I can't back up my earlier statement about Stuart Broad with photo evidence. I could only find this https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/7791087.stm which suggests that I have been talking utter rubbish this morning.
Gambhir has got his century, byt the way.

09.50 164-1
Lovely stuff from Sir Ian Wheaty Beefy Bix. "That's lasse. Is that a drink?" The clue, Beef, was that it was being poured into a glass.

09.35 India 159-1
Stats amazing. Previous to this tour, Gambhir and Dravid averaged 43.76 together. Their current partnership is worth a whopping 153. I suppose on that basis you could say England are due a wicket but, really, the bowlers look ineffective. Gambir, who needs eight for a ton, and Dravid could be out there with baguettes and still be stroking it around.

09.25 159-1
Stuart Broad does not seem to be as blond as he once was. Hair like hay he had previously but there is more than a hint of mousey-ness creeping in, and dare I say it, jet black. Perhaps he is dying it. It gives him a more mean look. The best way I can think of describing it is that it reminds me of bad Superman. You know, the film. The one where Superman ate some kryptonite (I don't care whether that is the correct spelling) or something and went to a bar, drank whiskey and started smashing the place up. Then he had a brawl at a car scrapyard. There's nothing Super about that you may say. Agreed. A normal Saturday night for most us.

09.15 India 146-1
The wicket looks extremely green, which to the eye this morning would have suggested help for the bowlers. Not a bit of it. There has been virtually no sideways movement all day. That is not wholly surprising because Mohali is a surface which is known for turn. Previously when England have played here, 75% of wickets have fallen to spin. It highlights the state of the wicket and the state of Enland's ability against spin.

09.07 India 141-1
Alec fell just short in his bid for world domination. But it's not the end of the world and there will be other days. Meanwhile, India are knocking around the [3.45] mark, which looks big but we have to account for the fact they don't need to win, plus there is weather around. We've had a bit of drizzle and rain is forecast for tomorrow. Throw some bad light - it gets dark early in this part of India - into the equation and you can understand why [1.41] is the favourite.

09.00 India 134-1 TEA
Alec Stewart is going for the world record of most cliches used in a tea break. 'Set your stall out', 'To be honest', 'At the end of the day', 'He's one for the future'. He's got those in early. Now he just needs more cricket-specific cliches to help boost his tally. 'A wicket brings two', 'good areas' and 'catches win matches' are my suggestions.

08.40 India 134-1
That's tea. And India are well in charge folks. Don't forget they do not need to win this game and England do. So if India have the opportunity to bat England out of the game and therefore the series, they will take it. Rahul Dravid has gone to 50 to silence his critics until the next time he fails and Gautam Gambhir has 78. Earlier, Virender Sehwag went for a duck, falling to Stuart Broad who has replaced Steve Harmison in the line-up.

08.35 India 131-1
I've had breakfast. The bland brekko of choice was Weetabix in honour of Ian Botham. Beefy used to advertise Shredded Wheat and although I don't have any Shredded Wheat in the cupboard, Weetabix was the closest match. It is a mark of the man that despite advertising such a cereal, Botham was still nicknamed Beefy, instead of Wheaty or Shreddy. Then again, Botham is such a man he probably had a steak with it. Not separately you understand. In the bowl, raw and with extra milk. I've made myself feel ill now.

08.25 India 126-1
Good morning sports fans. Here we are again in front of the telly blogging the live action from another sparsely populated India cricket ground. Mohali is the venue this time for the second Test and although the Punjab CA stadium is a biggy it looks as sparse as if it was in Bournemouth and Slipknot were playing. Indeed, if it is true that 3,000 troops are on duty then the players and spectators have at least two each judging by today's attendance. Mind you, the last Test was so dull it's not surprising no-one's turned up, eh? India and England have carried on from where they left off respectively. England have managed only 5 wickets in the last 147 overs. Here are the prices: India [3.75], England [20.00] and the draw [1.41].

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