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Dhoni continues good run at Eden Gardens
Skipper Alastair Cook created history by cracking his 23rd Test century, the most by an Englishman, and his third consecutive one in the series as England took complete control of the third Test against a listless India in Kolkata, on Thursday.
The left-handed opener remained unbeaten on a brilliant 136 to lay the platform for a mammoth first innings total as the visitors cruised to a comfortable 216 for one at close on the second day.
The statistical highlights of the second day's play:
# Mahendra Singh Dhoni (52 off 114 balls) recorded his 27th fifty in Tests - his seventh against England.
# Dhoni's home record now aggregates 1909 runs at an average of 43.38, including four hundreds and 14 fifties, in 35 matches.
# At Eden Gardens, Dhoni took his tally to 415 runs in five innings at an average of 138.33, including two hundreds and three fifties. At this venue, he has posted three fifty-plus innings in succession for the first time - an unbeaten 132 against South Africa in February 2010; 144 against West Indies in November 2011 and 52 against England in the present Test.
Cook youngest to get 7000 runs in Test cricket
# Nick Compton (57) has recorded his maiden half-century in Tests.
# Alastair Cook is the tenth batsman to cross 7,000 runs in Test cricket for England. At 27 years 347 days, he became the youngest ever to achieve the feat, beating Sachin Tendulkar's record of reaching 7000 runs in 28 years 193 days.
# Cook has taken 151 innings to complete 7,000 runs - the third quickest for England, next only to Wally Hammond(131) and Kevin Pietersen (150).
# Cook's innings is also the highest by an England skipper at the Eden Gardens. Tony Greig was the first England skipper to register a hundred - 103 in 1976-77.
# With his majestic unbeaten 136 - his 23rd hundred, Cook holds a record for most hundreds for England in Tests. He became the fourth England batsman to register three hundreds in a Test rubber against India joining Ken Barrington (1961-62), Graham Gooch (1990) and Michael Vaughan (2002).
Cook-Compton record highest partnership in the series
# Cook became the fifth overseas player to record three or more centuries in a Test rubber against India in India. Everton Weekes is the only one to post four hundreds while Gary Sobers, Ken Barrington and Hashim Amkla have recorded three each.
# Alastair Cook and Nick Compton recorded their highest partnership (165) in the series, eclipsing the 123 at Motera. The pair has managed 438 runs at an average of 109.50 in the current four-match series.
# The above opening stand is a record for England against India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, behind the 178 between Graeme Fowler and Tim Robinson at Chennai in January 1985. The said stand is the sixth highest for the first wicket for England against India in Tests.
# Cook, with 493 runs at an average of 164.33, is all set to become the first England captain to manage 500 runs in a Test series against India on Indian soil. The previous record stood in Ted Dexter's name -- 409 (ave 58.42) in five matches in 1961-62.
# Cook joined Sobers and these two are the only two left-handed skippers to have registered three centutries in the same Test series against India.