Gillespie digs it in

Jason Gillespie's strategy on the third day was to push the Indian batsmen on the back foot. But he might have overdone the short stuff, especially in the first hour, and the batsmen ducked the bouncers without much trouble. The statistics reveal that of the 29 balls in the day that were dug in short, 10 were bowled in the first hour. Out of the 127 balls that he bowled, 47 were either avoided or left alone - that is, 37% of the balls were rendered ineffective. Only 11 times were the batsmen not in control, as they cashed in on the batsman-friendly track. Having said that, Gillespie was the best bowler on show though he went wicketless the whole day.

Jason Gillespie on the third day

There was a marked difference between the on-side play of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman during their glorious 303-run stand. Both used the on-drive to good effect, but Dravid clipped the ball off his pads and made good use of the short square boundaries at the Oval. Dravid made 97 runs (48.7%) in the region between fine leg and midwicket, while the characteristically wristy Laxman managed only 40 (27%). But both prospered in the cover region, with Dravid and Laxman scoring 53 and 41 respectively.