A bit of a change

Three wickets fell on the first day of the Wankhede test; ten on the second day; nine on the third day. Now that England are batting again, will service be restored be restored to normal proportions? And if its not been blindingly obvious already, this run of play emphasizes just how vital their batting on the first day, and especially in the first two sessions, has been in establishing the contours of this test match. India batted with a total of 400 staring at them from the scoreboard and a batting lineup that has not done well since Karachi, obligingly failed again. India's pace attack could still do enough damage tomorrow to make a real contest out of this game, but for that, many things (such as catches, top-order bats) have to get into sync. And my pessimism about that happening is justifiably persistent.