Alastair Cook makes history to put England in driving seat

Skipper notches up record 23rd century
p74 Nagpur, INDIA: England cricketer Alastair Cook celebrates after scoring his maiden century on his Test match debut during play on the fourth day of the first Test match at The VCA Cricket Ground in Nagpur, 04 March 2006. At stumps England had scored 297 runs for the loss of four wickets in their second innings after India were bowled out for 323 in their first innings. AFP PHOTO/MANAN VATSYAYANA
Stephen Brenkley6 December 2012

Alastair Cook led England to a dominant position with a magisterial, record-breaking innings in the Third Test today. He became the youngest player to score 7,000 Test match runs and knocked other longstanding landmarks into a cocked helmet, whether bearing the three lions of his country or not.

It was his 23rd Test hundred for England, overtaking the 22 scored by four other players and first reached 73 years ago. No batsman in history has made hundreds in his first five matches as captain as Cook now has. This was his third hundred in the three matches so far of this series against India, following his defiant 176 in Ahmedabad and an influential 122 in Mumbai.

There was an air of inevitability about it, which was merely enhanced when he was dropped on 17, edging to first slip. Cook does not provide many such opportunities in the sort of form he has found since landing in India five weeks ago and subsequently offered none.

He and his opening partner, Nick Compton, shared a stand of 165, England’s second highest for the first wicket in India. The tourists finished the second day on 216 for one, trailing by 100 on the first innings with all to play for tomorrow. Cook was on 136 not out from 236 balls, Jonathan Trott had unobtrusively but assuredly reached 21.

Without getting too far ahead of themselves, England should already be thinking in terms of a lead of around 150, which would at least make the match safe and may do much more. But their determined, structured play over the first two days has offered the sense that victory is in their grasp for a 2-1 lead in the series with one to play.

It could hardly have gone more swimmingly for the tourists or less buoyantly for their opponents. They took India’s last three wickets in fairly short order in the morning session and then set out their stall for the rest of the day.

Cook and Compton, who have been together for only two-and-a-half matches but already meld like a pair of old slippers, batted for 50 minutes before lunch without alarm. The plan was simply to make the break intact. Early in the afternoon, Cook was beaten twice in an over by Ishant Sharma as he pushed towards balls outside off stump. This might temporarily have disconcerted him — unlikely though that sounds given Cook’s endlessly phlegmatic temperament — but in the next over from Zaheer Khan he nicked a ball moving marginally away.

It flew low and fast to first slip where Cheteshwar Pujara, the hero of all India only a fortnight ago when he scored a double century in the First Test, let the ball slip through his fingers. That was about as good as it got for India. England’s ‘C’ men embarked on a process of patient accumulation, nudging square on both sides of the wicket and dashing for singles to mid-on and mid-off to ensure the board ticked over. Both somewhat uncharacteristically hit sixes down the ground as well to remind the close fielders that there were to be no easy pickings.

After facing 87 balls, Cook reached his fifty, when he got to 60 he overtook the legendary Len Hutton in the list of England Test run scorers and when he passed 88 he became the 10th England batsman to 7,000 runs. Finally, from his 179th ball, he took the single that completed the erection of a milestone.

It was in August, 1939, against West Indies at The Oval that Wally Hammond scored his 22nd and last hundred for England, a total that had been equalled but never broken until today. Hammond was already 36 by then, Cook will not be 28 until Christmas Day (though it took Hammond only 131 innings to reach 7,000, Cook needed 151).

Less historical but no less important in the context of the match was Compton’s first Test 50, from 125 balls. He was a shade unfortunate to be lbw essaying a paddle sweep against Pragyan Ojha. Umpire Rod Tucker appeared to shake his head before raising his finger but it was only the latter gesture that mattered.

India had been dispatched in an hour in the morning, with Monty Panesar taking two more wickets and Steve Finn his first of the innings to end MS Dhoni’s resolute occupation. The total of 316 all out looked to be around 100 runs short on the surface and by the close of the second day perhaps a little more.

PICTURE PROTEST

We apologise to all cricket fans as we are unable to print live pictures from today’s play. This paper, along with other British media groups, is not publishing any live pictures from the Third Test in protest at the Indian cricket board’s refusal to grant access to certain major picture agencies which we view as a restriction on the freedom of the press.

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