England v India, 3rd Test, The Oval, 3rd day

Pre-lunch nerves, and Sachin turns Shane

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan at The Oval

August 11, 2007

Michael Vaughan was one of two batsmen who fell to Anil Kumble just before lunch on the third day © Getty Images

Choosing the wrong moments: Some batsmen get nervous as the hundred approaches, but Alastair Cook and Michael Vaughan did the same with lunch coming up. Cook perished ten minutes before the break, popping a leading edge to mid-off, while Vaughan made a similar blooper at the stroke of lunch. Both wickets fell to Anil Kumble, India's leading batsman who happens to bowl legspin.

Slippery fingers at leg slip: Dinesh Karthik was positioned at leg slip at the start of the day. It was obvious that the Indians were luring Cook to clip one straight to him. That's exactly what happened in the fourth over of the morning, only for Karthik to spill one that flew straight at him. He didn't have to move, yet he messed it up. Sreesanth's next ball was also on leg stump, this time Cook clipped it delightfully for four. What was that about rubbing salt in the wounds?

Dhoni's nightmare: For a large part of the morning, India's scattergun bowlers made life hard for Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Sreesanth and RP Singh were particularly errant, spraying the ball wide of the stumps, bringing Dhoni's goal-keeping quality into question. Despite all this the scorecard shows just 16 byes. Well done MSD.

Driving glory: RP delivers full and outside off, KP goes down on one knee and drives through the covers. RP admires, KP simply watches. The ball zooms all along the ground, burns the grass, and pelts the hoarding at the cover fence. Photographers of the world unite, this one was a gem that couldn't be missed.

Sachin foxes KP A few moments before tea Rahul Dravid turned to Sachin Tendulkar. The first ball was a fizzing legbreak, pitching on off and careening away but Kevin Pietersen couldn't hold back, swishing extravagantly. The thick edge flew straight to Dravid at first slip, who gobbled the catch and punched the air, with both his hands, in a show of glee. Bowled Shane.

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is assistant editor of Cricinfo.

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