At tea, India were 40/2, ahead by 45. And contained in that score, were several points of interest.

Firstly, the fact that the batsmen came out to bat looking not to hang around until someone hung them out to dry -- for once, they looked to keep the board ticking over without risk, and that reflected in the 3.08 run rate, the fastest anyone has gone in this game till date. The rate of scoring becomes a worry for the home side, given that if allowed to go on for a bit, the game could well get away from them, and leave them facing the prospect of batting last on a track doing a bit for seam and spin.

Dravid has, thus far, settled down to playing the way he always does -- with a bias for the back foot, and attempting to play as late as he possibly can. A couple of uncontrolled shots got him fours to fine leg, but other than those two aberrations, both early on, he's been looking rock solid.

Tendulkar's innings -- worth 19 off 25 at this stage -- has been equally interesting for the adjustments he appears to have made. Firstly, other than to Bond, he took to standing outside his crease, shortening the length on the bowler and at the same time, negating much of the seam movement.

Secondly, he has looked to come forward as much as possible -- and at this point in his innings, every single run he has scored has been in front of the wicket.

Taken in tandem with the fact that both batsmen have been looking for the short singles as a means of strike rotation, it really was a fascinating effort till the break.

The onus really is on these two -- the bowlers have bailed the side out of jail, it is now the turn of the higher rated batting lineup to contribute to the team effort.

Post Script: Given the time back home in India, by the time someone came in to post this, much had happened.

India resumed post tea, both batsmen played in pre-tea vein, and finally, two deliveries after a clean, classical punch down the ground, Tuffey finally struck back by bowling that bit fuller, and beating the attempted drive to take the edge onto the stumps.