England v India: Hosts Take Control in Third Test as Ian Bell and Jos Buttler Shine

England finished day two of the third Test against India in commanding fashion after a scintillating batting display from Ian Bell at the Rose Bowl.

Bell secured a magnificent 167 as the hosts declared 569-7 after starting the day 247-2 with Test debutant Jos Buttler striking an impressive 85 from 83 balls in the absence of Matt Prior.

Gary Ballance also extended his overnight 104 into a Test best of 156 in Southampton, hitting 24 fours having forged a compelling partnership with Bell before the left hander was given out caught behind off Rohit Sharma, a controversial decision from umpire Rod Tucker.

Soon after, India managed to quell the battling onslaught with the wickets of Joe Root (3) and Moeen Ali (12) using the pace trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Pakaj Singh.

The visitors also felt they should have dismissed Buttler immediately following his introduction after Ajinkya Rahane appeared to catch him at the slip, but the 23-year-old was spared after replays suggested it had not been taken cleanly.

After being handed a reprieve, Buttler produced an entertaining session either side of tea, taking 20 of 21 runs of Pankaj - including two successive sixes – before hitting an impressive reverse sweep for four to secure a half century on his Test debut.

The debutant was eventually subdued after an edge onto the stumps by Jadeja, encouraging Cook to declare and leave the visitors with the formidable task of replicating a sublime afternoon of batting from the hosts.

With just 14 overs to play for, India endured a terrible start as Shikhar Dhawan left for six after edging James Anderson to Cook. Murali Vijay (11) and Che Pujara (4) will resume on 25-1 on Tuesday.