I've never watched paint dry, so can't tell you with any authority that the evening session, piled on top of the one preceding it, was akin.
But one of these days, I will watch paint dry -- and then I can tell you that it was like watching England set up the runs-to-overs equation it needed to declare.
11 runs were taken off the first over after tea, including an effortless lofted off drive by Flintoff off Munaf Patel, but that was a tease -- the next five overs produced four runs, and a wicket.
Morning session | Afternoon session
Harbhajan Singh, who after a long time began bowling like the off spinner of old, fizzed an off break at Collingwood on line of off; the batsman drove at it; Harbhajan put on his superman cape and went flying to his left, getting the catch in his wrong hand and in full flight.
There was, in the spinner's reaction, an over the top exuberance -- understandable, perhaps; he has off and on in this series bowled well, only to be let down by his fielders (Yuvraj was to drop another one off him, off Monty Panesar, later in the session). This time, he had done the job himself, start to finish -- and the satisfaction showed.
A little later, a top spinner kicked like a mule, drew Geraint Jones into a Pavlovian, reflexive pull, and Irfan Pathan ran around in the deep to hold at backward square leg.
Mathew Hoggard then took his turn at bat or, more accurately, block. Anil Kumble twice thudded top spinners into his pads in front of the stumps without Darrell Hair moving a, well, hair; third time round, the umpire seemed to go ah, what the hell, this bloke didn't do anything with the two lives I gave him, so might as well send him on his way.
With partners running out, Flintoff finally opened his shoulders just that bit, powered a six over midwicket en route to a grimly determined 50 made off 146 deliveries and at least three lives, gave Kumble the charge and for once, Dhoni completed the job.
After Panesar got his share of lives from India, Kumble kicked a delivery across Anderson and found an edge for Dravid to hold at slip, ending the England innings on 191, leaving India 312 to make in a maximum of 98 overs.
Yet again in recent times, Virender Sehwag's increasingly suspect back kept him off the field for the entire innings. This time, Rahul Dravid did the smart thing and sent Irfan Pathan out with Wasim Jaffer to negotiate a tricky half hour period before close, and a maximum of 10 overs.
James Anderson, given the new ball alongside Mathew Hoggard for his ability to swing the ball, produced an undeserved breakthrough undeserved, only because he had largely wasted the new ball with a line to wide of off -- when a full toss with slight shape as it neared the batsman saw Pathan inner edge a drive onto his stumps.
The left hander had been looking for his strokes from ball one, which clearly spoke of instructions from the dressing room; here, the ball was there for the shot but the bat closed in his hand, creating the wicket (6/1 India).
Jaffer survived one close shout for LBW against Hoggard, with Simon Taufel reckoning the ball, otherwise on target, hit pad outside the line. Outside of that, the opener and night watchman Anil Kumble took India in on 18/1; that leaves 295 to get with 9 wickets and 90 overs in hand on the final day.
An indicator of how much Kumble puts himself in line for the team came in the final over. A push to cover off Monty Panesar could have yielded a single, but Kumble declined it, sticking to his job of protecting the main batsman. A ball later, an under edge went to fine leg, and Kumble immediately called, and sprinted, the second run to ensure he faced the last ball and kept Jaffer out of the firing line.
It's been said before, it merits repetition: his turn may not be particularly wide, but his heart is. Wide as all outdoors, and just as big.
And so, after four days spent jockeying for position, it's all down to 90 overs on the final day of this Test series, with all three results on the cards. Interestingly, though India are a wicket down, it now has Virender Sehwag coming in at number five, or any position thereafter the team decides on.
It's shaping for an electric finish to the series -- and if I had to pick a winner here, I'd say India. There -- stuck my neck out nice and long, but then, it's a lot more fun making the call before than after, no?
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