England remain in the driving seat after building a 190-run lead over India at the end of day three of the third test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The visitors built on their excellent position at the start of the third day, with Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott putting on a massive 173-run partnership for the second wicket before the mercurial Kevin Pietersen and the lower order batsmen accelerated the scoring later on.

The English side ended the day with 509/6 with keeper Matt Prior (40) and spinner Graeme Swann (21) still at the crease.

Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen
Cook and Pietersen, along with Trott where the stars for England at the end of day three of third test. Reuters

Trott was under pressure to perform after being dismissed cheaply during the first two tests. However the right-handed batsman, with good support from his captain Cook, remained unbeaten until the end of first session of day three.

The hosts' bowling attack, considered so strong before the series began, again failed to impress with spinner Ravi Ashwin looking totally innocuous once more.

Ashwin's spin partner, left-armer Pragyan Ojha, finally made the breakthrough when he dismissed Trott for 87, the Warwickshire right-hander feathering an edge to Indian skipper MS Dhoni behind the stumps. England were able to add only 21 runs before Cook was dismissed in one of the most bizarre run-outs ever seen in the test arena.

The Essex opener had made his ground by the time Virat Kohli's throw came in, but in attempting to jump out of the way of the fielder's high throw he failed to ground his bat, giving the umpires no option but to adjudge him out.

Pietersen raised the scoring rate with a typically flambuoyant half-century before becoming Ashwin's only wicket of the innings, and Ian Bell again frustrated his legions of admirers by wafting a catch behind after scoring only five.

When Samit Patel was dismissed for 33, England were in danger of letting India back into the match, but a rapid 56-run partnership between Swann and Prior left their team in complete control once again.

Ohja was the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 3/140, while Ashwin and Sharma picked up a wicket each. The hosts will face a huge task when the game resumes on the fourth day, and will have to dismiss the English tail-enders quickly if they are to have any hope of getting back into the match.

India