England planned to bat for the bulk of day three and did just that, declaring on 710-7 and then reducing a rattled India to 35-1 by the close. Alastair Cook was relentless in taking his score to a career best 294 while Eoin Morgan chipped in with 104.
While the scoring rate could have been quicker and thus a declaration earlier, Cook's concentration was admirable as he sought to become the first Englishman to score a triple hundred since Graham Gooch. He fell just short but by then the game was well out of India's reach. Morgan played sensibly on the way to his ton, keeping Ravi Bopara waiting in the wings. Bopara eventually arrived at the wicket late in the day with England looking for quick runs and fell for just 7.
India were once again a shambles in the field, producing a performance packed with poorly executed dives and a lack of enthusiasm. As England cruised to their mammoth total, the embarrassment only grew for proud former players, though the 11 on the field showed little stomach for the fight.
Faced with 13 overs to handle before the close, the Indians got off to another wretched start as Virender Sehwag completed a king pair, edging his first ball to Andrew Strauss at first slip. Rahul Dravid joined Gautam Gambhir to negotiate the remaining overs but, with two full days to go, the result is surely a formality.
England have proved once again that they deserve to move into the number one slot in the world rankings and, with the pitch providing support for the spin of Graeme Swann and Kevin Pietersen late on day three, a 3-0 lead should be wrapped up tomorrow.
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