Sprinters in a walkathon

While Panesar and Swann may have been bowling with no reward until then, they had managed to maintain the pressure. But once the pacers had the new ball and a slip arrived in place, both pressure and runs released. Instantly, Dhoni cut Tim Bresnan in the 84th to the sweeper fence to bring up his fifty. Needless to say, it was his slowest, coming in 137 balls. With the ball coming on nicely, Kohli too took on Bresnan, driving him through four fielders protecting just that shot for four. And after he cut him for yet another boundary in the 88th, Cook brought Panesar back. The Indians were more than happy to block again.

On Saturday, Monty must've felt like Mudsudhen Singh Panesar, having bowled so long. His figures, in fact, were a microcosm of the way things unfolded. To Kohli, he bowled a 140 balls. Twelve of those were nudged for singles, five were cut through sqaure for fours and a 121 of them were blocked. Similarly, Mudsudhen bowled 12.4 overs at Dhoni, 10.4 of them were maidens. Such was the day.

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