The 293-run fifth-wicket partnership between Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul presented an interesting study in similarities and contrasts. Hooper faced far fewer balls – only 221 to Chanderpaul's 290 – but contributed three more runs (143 to 140). Both batsmen scored more heavily on the on side – 84 of Hooper's runs, and 76 of Chanderpaul's, came on that side. The region square of the wicket on the on side was most productive, fetching 37 runs for Hooper and 39 for Chanderpaul. But their methods of run-gathering were quite different. Chanderpaul relied more on boundaries, getting 66% of his runs (92 out of 140) in fours; for Hooper, the corresponding percentage was 54. Hooper was far better at rotating the strike, stealing 51 singles to Chanderpaul's 25.

Barring an uncertain period at the start of his innings, Hooper was mostly in control. He played the seamers well enough, but was especially masterful against spin. Of the 143 runs he scored in the partnership, 97 came off Anil Kumble, Sarandeep Singh and Sachin Tendulkar, from just 100 balls. Chanderpaul's 74 runs against spin took all of 139 balls.

On a dismal day for India, Zaheer Khan's improved performance stood out. Yesterday, his direction had been awful – 47% of his deliveries (56 out of 119) were on middle stump or further legside. Today, that figure dropped dramatically to a mere 16%. His good-length percentage was an impressive 85, up from yesterday's 69. It was hardly surprising that he claimed two of the three wickets to fall today. If only he had found his radar a day earlier.

S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com India

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