Pietersen ton keeps England alive

A 149 partnership between Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff helped England reach 282-6 on day three of the final Test against India.

Pietersen's 144, which contained 17 fours and a switch-hit for six, was the highest score by an England captain in India as he engineered a valiant revival following the loss of two wickets in the first seven balls after play started 90 minutes late due to dense fog in Mohali.

However he was out lbw playing back to Harbhajan Singh two overs before stumps, while Flintoff fell to the final ball for 62 after being caught by Gautam Gambhir off the bowling of Amit Mishra to put the hosts back in command of the match.

It looked like India were set to stroll to an easy victory when Andrew Strauss, centurion in both innings in the first Test, played across the third ball of the innings and was lbw to Zaheer Khan. Ian Bell then saw his middle stump uprooted by Ishant Sharma's first delivery as England were on 1-2.

Pietersen came in to spark a revival as he shared 102 with Alastair Cook, before the latter succumbed to a stunning inswinging yorker from Zaheer on 50.

The captain continued his impressive knock alongside 'Freddy' Flintoff to help England progress well past the follow-on total. However their late dismissals has now handed the initiative back to the hosts going into day four on Monday as they still lead by 171 runs with just four tail-end wickets left to claim.