England increased the pressure on India in their third cricket Test, cutting the visitors lead to 67 runs after reaching 157-0 at lunch on the second day. Alastair Cook is on 51 and captain Andrew Strauss is 84 not out as the hosts respond to India’s first innings total of 224. England picked up 73 runs in this morning’s 22 overs. The start was delayed because of rain.
England, which took the first two Tests in the four-match series, won the toss yesterday and put the visitors in to bat at Edgbaston in Birmingham. It can replace India as No. 1 in the International Cricket Council rankings with another victory or by drawing the final two matches. India lost four wickets in each of yesterday’s first two sessions, with six batsmen failing to reach five runs as Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad combined to take eight wickets. The teams will also play one Twenty20 match and five one- day international games following the Test series.