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London, Jul 31: When the third day of the second test between India and England begins on Sunday, England will take the field with a psycological advantage, with their bowlers led by Stuart Broad having destroyed the Indian batting lineup, especially with Broad's sensational hat-trick on Saturday.
In the last two days of the test, India lost two golden opportunities to turn the tables on England. On the first day, when England lost 8 wickets for 124 runs, India had a very good opportunity to finish off England within 150 or so. But India allowed Broad to bat and take the first innings score to 221.
The second opportunity India lost was when it failed to build the innings after an excellent batting display by Dravid, supported by Laxman and Yuvraj. Captain Dhoni himself was a big failure, and then India offered the hat-trick to the in-form Broad.
On the third day, if India does not restrict England to 250-300, India's chances to win the test will be bleak.
Third day Pitch report by Sourav Ganguly and Wasim Akram:
It is a bright sunny day and probably the best day for batting. India batted very well yesterday but they gave the advantage in the last session. There is some grass on the wicket and it will swing. The grass is brown and they have used the heavy roller so it will be a swinging wicket. India will look to bowl the length Stuart Broad did yesterday. There is not enough rough patches for the spinners to come in to play. There could be some uneven bounce, mostly on the lower side. It will not be a flat deck. There are some rough patches outside the left hander's off stump but it shouldn't create many problems. It is still a very good batting wicket and with the sun out, it is going to be a day for runs, if England bat well.
The first 2 days shared a similar pattern: India would put themselves in the driver's seat and then Stuart Broad would wrestle control. The first day he did it with the bat. Yesterday he did it with the ball. What does today have in store for us? Hello and Welcome to the coverage of the 3rd day's play of this gripping Test match. Stay tuned, we'll bring you the updates as and when it happens.
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