COLLY STOPS THE WOBBLES; All-rounder defiant as England tighten grip.

Byline: MYLES HODGSON at Chennai

PAUL Collingwood responded to another high-pressure situation by delivering a defiant half-century as England took a commanding position in the opening Test against India.

The Durham all-rounder has forged an international career on his ability to deliver in a time of crisis, not least last summer when he claimed a superb 135 against South Africa at Edgbaston to save his Test place.

But few of his innings could have been as valuable as the unbeaten 60 he recorded over three long hours at the crease to help England seize control of the Test on the third day at the Chepauk Stadium.

When Collingwood arrived at the crease England were tottering on 43 for three having lost three wickets in four overs to lead by just 118, but by the time stumps were drawn at the end of the third day his unbeaten partnership with Andrew Strauss was looking crucial.

Despite constant pressure from India's spinners and impressive seamers during 40.5 overs, the pair stood defiant at the close after a 129-run stand which guided England into a 247-run advantage on 172 for three.

"It's very satisfying to play those sort of innings - pressure innings are the ones that satisfy you the most," admitted Collingwood.

"As a player you realise the situations and realise when you've got to make a contribution and make it count and today was one of those situations.

"When you bat in India you've got to have a bit of luck getting yourself in. It only takes a little mistake against the spinners when you first come in and you can be out before you know it."

Collingwood looked unsteady at the start of his innings as India became excitable at every edge and mistimed shot and could have lost Strauss in the next over, but MS Dhoni was unable to take the catch standing up to the stumps following a low edge off leg-spinner Amit Mishra.

It was a costly error with Strauss, then on 15, going on to finish unbeaten on 73 and on course to become only the 10th England player in history to claim centuries in both innings of a Test and the first since Marcus Trescothick achieved the feat against West Indies at Edgbaston in 2004.

England had begun the day hoping to end India's resistance quickly when they resumed 161 runs behind on 155 for six, but encountered resistance with Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh forging a 76-runpartnershipwhich threatened the tourists' hopes of a first innings lead.

Their stand was finally broken in the 16th over of the day with Harbhajan guiding left-arm spinner Monty Panesar to short leg as India's last four wickets fell in nine overs either side of lunch with Dhoni top-scoring with a determined 53.

Having established a 75-run first innings advantage, England lost Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and captain Kevin Pietersen in quick succession.

But with Collingwood and Strauss defiant England were able to press home their advantage.

SCOREBOARD

Overnight: England 316 (A J Strauss 123, M J Prior 53 no, A N Cook 52). India 155-6.

INDIA First innings

M S Dhoni c Pietersen b Panesar 53

Harbhajan Singh c Bell b Panesar 40

Z Khan lbw b Flintoff 1

A Mishra b Flintoff 12

I Sharma not out 8

Extras (b4, lb11, nb6, pens, 0) 21

Total (69.4 overs) 241

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-34, 3-37, 4-98, 5-102, 6-137, 7-212, 8-217, 9-219.

Bowling: S J Harmison 11-1-42-1; Anderson 11-3-28-1; Flintoff 18.4-2-49-3; Swann 10-0-42-2; Panesar 19-4-65-3.

ENGLAND Second innings

A J Strauss not out 73

A N Cook c Dhoni b I Sharma 9

I R Bell c Gambhir b Mishra 7

K P Pietersen lbw b Yuvraj Singh 1

P D Collingwood not out 60

Extras (b5, lb8, w2, nb7, pens, 0) 22

Total (3 wkts, 54 overs) 172

Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-42, 3-43.

To Bat: A Flintoff, M J Prior, S J Harmison, J M Anderson, M S Panesar, G P Swann.

Bowling: Khan 14-3-21-0; I Sharma 10-0-31-1; Mishra 11-0-47-1; Yuvraj Singh 2-1-7-1; Harbhajan Singh 11-0-31-0; Sehwag 6-0-22-0.

CAPTION(S):

DEPENDABLE: Paul Collingwood on his way to a gritty half-century