Chennai: It is not often that India are found dancing to the opposition’s tune in a home series. As England batted themselves into a position of strength on Saturday, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men were left wondering what went wrong.

By stumps on the third day, England had extended their lead to 247 after Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood put on 129 in an unbroken fourth wicket partnership. Barring something dramatic in the first session on the penultimate day, it will be a big challenge for India to try and salvage the opening Test of the RBS Cup.

“We’ve done everything we set out to do… But England played very good cricket,” admitted Gary Kirsten.

The India coach is, however, hoping the team will be able to produce something out of the ordinary. “We believe that this team can do anything, and we as a team believe we have the players to produce some special stuff on a cricket field,” Kirsten said.

Overnight batsmen Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh added 75 that limited the first innings deficit to as many runs, but that was the only positive for India on Saturday. The last four wickets fell for only 29 and it has been a struggle since. The captain’s 53 was the only saving grace in an otherwise dismal show.

The weather forecast could come as a relief for the Indians. It remained cloudy for most of the day and there is chance of rain during the next couple of days.

For the record, England took a decisive 2-1 lead at this very ground in 1984-85 under David Gower. That was the last time they won a series in India.

Dhoni, who kept wickets despite injuring his ankle in the morning while taking a run, will rue dropping Strauss for 15. The England opener is on course for a slice of history after remaining unbeaten on 73. He will become only the second Englishman after Graham Gooch to complete a century in both innings of a Test.

Strauss’ unbeaten 73, which included five boundaries and 256 minutes of batting, was able to fend off a brief collapse in the afternoon session when they lost two wickets in six balls and slumped to 43 for three.

Strauss was far more fluent in the second essay, showing more confidence and greater adaptability to the conditions. Most of his runs came through well-controlled sweeps and his favourite cut.

He found an able ally in Collingwood (60 batting) who seemed to have overcome the horrors of his past few innings. He worked the ball into the gaps and ran the singles hard.

The start wasn’t that smooth with Alastair Cook edging Ishant Sharma behind, and Amit Mishra and Yuvraj striking in successive overs. Once Kevin Pietersen left to the left-arm spinner’s first ball, it seemed like the Indians would run through the middle-order.

It would have been 43 for four had Dhoni not spilled Strauss. Thereafter England showed resilience, as the Indians were guilty of bowling to the batsman’s strengths.

Ishant struggled with his run-up and overstepped seven times, Harbhajan and Zaheer Khan were disappointing while Mishra was inconsistent. Perhaps the vacuum left by Anil Kumble’s retirement was being felt by Dhoni a bit too early in the day.

Dhoni had probably banked heavily on the two pacers for reverse swing apart from his spinners. With Ishant struggling for rhythm, and Zaheer bowling short and wide, it was advantage England. The bowlers’ frustration grew as the Strauss and Collingwood partnership prospered.

Perhaps Dhoni could have tried out Yuvraj for a few more overs since he was successful during his brief spell and would have also added variety to the attack.