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COOK PASSES 200 AS ENGLAND ROLL ON

12th August 2011

COOK PASSES 200 AS ENGLAND ROLL ON

Alastair Cook moved past his second Test double-century as England continued to dominate India on the third morning at Edgbaston.

Cook (206no) moved on from an overnight 182, underpinning England's 503 for three in reply to the tourists' inadequate 224 all out in this third npower Test.

His 200 contained 27 fours from 378 balls, arrived after almost nine hours at the crease and came up with a typically undemonstrative clip off his legs for two from the bowling of Shantha Sreesanth.

Cook's stand with Eoin Morgan (66no) progressed well beyond an unbroken century in pursuit of a victory which will see England wrap up this series 3-0 and go top of the International Cricket Council Test rankings.

It is a measure of the hosts' superiority so far this summer that they have eight century stands in the book, to India's one.

Yet Cook and Morgan did not have it especially easy today, despite the almost embarrassingly one-side statistics on the scoreboard.

The admirable Praveen Kumar, and Sreesanth, swung the ball under cloudy skies in a session twice shortened by rain.

But there were no notable close calls either, as Cook stuck to his winning formula - patiently waiting for the loose ball, and blocking, leaving or milking singles off the remainder.

Morgan, twice badly-dropped by a tiring India last night, cashed in on his good fortune to post his second successive half-century - from 73 balls, and containing seven fours.

His efforts were warmly appreciated, but not on the scale of Cook's milestone - which brought inevitable loud applause, and a standing ovation, in some quarters of this sold-out ground.

The Edgbaston crowd will doubtless be warming their hands and exercising their vocal chords plenty more today, with Cook still on course for further run-scoring records.

source: http://www.sportinglife.com

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