London, Aug 16 (IANS): England batsmen dominated the second day of The Oval Test reaching 148 for one in the first innings against India at lunch here Saturday.
Skipper Alastair Cook was batting on 56 and Gary Ballance 40 when lunch was called. Sam Robson (37) was the only wicket to fall in the first session.
England, who are leading the series 2-1, are at par with India's first innings score and seem to be in complete control of the Test.
They started the day at 62 for no loss, 86 runs behind India, and surged ahead scoring runs freely against the hapless bowling attack.
Though Robson departed in the second over of the day with an excellent delivery from Varun Aaron that knocked his off-stump to the ground, Cook and Ballance faced no problems whatsoever. Robson is yet to score a half-century since the first innings of the first Test but set the stage with Cook here with a 66-run stand.