190 vs. India, Kolkata, 2012
492 mins

England’s tour to India in 2012 was a game changer for Alastair Cook who had recently taken over the reins of captaincy from Andrew Strauss. England was looking for their first away series win in India after 27 years and had only drawn level in the series after winning the second Test in Mumbai.

The third Test was played at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata and India batted first to score 316 runs in the first innings with Sachin Tendulkar scoring 76. Monty Panesar picked 4 wickets and Anderson returned with three.

England knew that to put the Indian team under pressure, they had to put up a huge total and Cook got to work by sweeping, cutting and stepping out to hit sixes to the Indian spinners Ashwin and Ojha. Cook batted for 492 mins and 377 balls to score a masterful 190 runs. With support from Trott (87) and fifties from Compton and Pietersen, England piled up 523 all out.

England bowlers came to the party in the Indian second innings, bowling them out for 247.

Thanks to a masterful knock by captain Cook, which was his fifth century in his first five matches as England captain, England went 2-1 up in the series with one match to go.