First Test, fifth day: New Cook milestone before England declare

Cook (130) and Haseeb Hameed’s opening stand of 180, England’s highest in India, underpinned a total of 260-3 declared, which left the hosts with 49 overs to bat out for a stalemate in notional pursuit of 310 to win.

India’s rearguard was almost immediately minus Gautam Gambhir when Chris Woakes, wicketless in 31 largely exemplary overs in the first innings, struck with his sixth delivery second time around.

Woakes found enough bounce to have the left-hander fencing a routine catch to second slip, but from nought for one, India steadied to a teatime 49 for two

A heavily-cracked pitch has not deteriorated to the extent both teams long predicted, and it was hard to imagine how another eight wickets could fall inside a session.

Murali Vijay might have gone for 13 when Zafar Ansari dropped a sharp caught-and-bowled chance.

Stuart Broad put down an easier opportunity in the same bowler’s next over, lunging forward at backward-point.

But thankfully for him, Cheteshwar Pujara fell shortly afterwards anyway to a double misjudgement, first when he was pinned on the back foot by an Adil Rashid variation and secondly failing to review the lbw verdict even though replays demonstrated the ball pitching well outside leg-stump.

England nonetheless seemed sure to be booked for a draw in which they made all the running but could never quite establish the leeway needed for a knockout blow.

Their supporters began the day willing Cook’s young partner Hameed (82) on to three figures, but there was to be no debut hundred for the teenager.

Instead, Cook served up yet another major milestone in his record-breaking career.

Hameed was noticeably less assured throughout on the resumption, having impressed the previous evening, and eventually fell for the addition of 20 to his overnight tally when he slapped a return catch back at Amit Mishra.

The leg-spinner was mighty close to the front line, but once the third umpire ruled out the no-ball Hameed had to continue his walk off, with no century after all and instead the second prizes of the highest score by an English teenager and a hand in beating Tim Robinson and Graeme Fowler’s previous national-record best opening stand in India.

England were restricted to 36 runs in the first hour as Hameed struggled to reattune himself.

It was Cook who began to accelerate England’s progress, surging past his junior partner, and after Hameed and then Joe Root went in successive Mishra overs - the latter to a mistimed slog-sweep at a leg-break that looped up to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha - the captain duly completed hundred number 30.

It came from 194 balls and contained 10 fours, taking Cook past Don Bradman, although the great Australian made his 29 centuries in the small matter of 165 fewer innings.

He was joined by Ben Stokes either side of lunch, and having failed to beat long-off with an attempted big hit down the ground to be caught off Ravi Ashwin, Cook called time on his and his team’s innings one minute short of five hours.