England's openers, Trescothick and Butcher, battled hard under the floodlights and managed to emerge unscathed, but there is a good chance that India will take a one-nil lead in the series with a day to spare.

It was fascinating to see how the batsmen coped with the eerie conditions created by the lights.

Mohali is unique in that there are 18 small pylons encircling the ground. This is because there is a busy Indian Air force nearby, and low-flying aircraft are a regular distraction during the day.

I can imagine the scenario in which a team will deliberately declare when the light is fading in order to subject the opposition to an awkward predicament and wickets could tumble as the batsmen struggle to make out a dark, red ball in the gloom.

Today's situation was created entirely by England because they bowled their overs too slowly and, had it cost them in the end, they could not expect any sympathy.

Interestingly, the moment play ended England's middle order batsmen - Mark Ramprakash and Graham Thorpe - dashed out onto the ground, fully padded up, to have some practice under the lights.

Uneven bounce

Everyone was relishing the prospect of watching Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly when play resumed on the third day.

Although Dravid made 86, Tendulkar 88 and the captain 47, none of them looked particularly at ease.

This had more to do with the uneven bounce rather than anything England's bowlers produced, and this is what Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble will attempt to exploit as they push for victory.

Dawson finished with four wickets in his first bowl for England and did extremely well under the circumstances.

He was not helped by another spate of missed chances: Foster should have stumped Ganguly when he came dancing down the pitch while Thorpe dropped an absolute sitter in the covers when Bangar had eight.

Flintoff threatening

Poor Dawson! He had plugged away all day and was badly let down.

So, too, was Flintoff who has really impressed me with his bowling in this match.