Cook completes double century as England reach 503/3 at lunch

Birmingham, Aug 12 (PTI) Alastair Cook duly completed a
double century as England went into an early lunch on third
day at the massive score of 503 for three against India in the
third Test match being played at Birmingham.
The overnight pair of Cook (206 batting) and Eoin Morgan
(66 batting) were unseparated till lunch as the hosts look
determined to bat the visitors out of this match.
The two have so far added 129 runs for the fourth wicket
and their first innings lead has swelled to 279 runs.
Resuming at the overnight score of 456 for 3, England
still couldn't bat briskly in the curtailed morning session as
they added 47 runs from 18-odd overs this morning.
A slight drizzle in the first hour held up the play for
27 minutes. Later, it began to rain with 20 minutes still left
for the break.
England's slow progress has a lot to do with the spirited
first spells from Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma who operated
from the two ends. Praveen bowled seven overs for 17 runs
while Sharma bowled his five overs for 11 runs.
At one stretch, England had made only 22 runs from the
first 10 overs of the morning session.
Cook, batting on 182, completed his double century with a
flick for two off Sreesanth. His hard grind took him 538
minutes and 378 balls and contained 27 fours.
Following his unbeaten 235 against Australia last winter,
this is the second double century in 71 Test matches.
Morgan's 50 took him 73 balls and was studded with seven
fours. With 20 minutes left for the lunch interval, a quick
spell of showers once again forced the players indoors but the
Indians truly were not complaining.
It was later announced that an early lunch was taken and
the resumption would be at 1.30 p.m local time (6 p.m IST).