ALASTAIR Cook might want to forget reading batting manuals and invest in a copy of Harry Potter to reverse his career-threatening run of form.
It is starting to look like only a wizard's spell, a rabbit's foot or a four leaf clover can help Cook, who is fighting to save his position as England captain at Trent Bridge.
He suffered desperate luck as he was bowled off the thigh pad by a buoyant Mohammed Shami for just five.
That came as a further psychological blow as he sweltered in the field while India made 457 on the back of a morale-draining last wicket stand featuring Shami.
Having not been helped by the slow pitch when guiding his bowlers, Cook must now hope his batters make best use of the lifeless wicket when resuming on 43 for one, 414 behind.
England's chances of winning evaporated faster than a drop of water in the Sahara after a partnership of 111 between Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami, who made 58 and 51 not out respectively.
A burst of four wickets for two runs from 21 balls after lunch had dragged England back into the game with India pegged back to 346 for nine.
But a year on from seeing then unknown Australian number 11 Ashton Agar make 98, the Trent Bridge crowd sat through another last wicket marathon.
This was not the fairytale stuff of Agar, rather it was the stuff of nightmares for a tired English attack who will hope the batsmen let their batteries recharge.
It is not the second time England have run into trouble trying to take the last wicket. Eight times since 2008 the opposition final pair put on 50 partnerships.
In that time England managed it once, when the Nottinghamshire duo of Stuart Broad and Darren Pattinson put on 61 against South Africa.
How Broad would love to have been batting rather than bowling given the weather, which made it even harder to get anything out of this much scrutinised pitch, which must have drained the energy of England's seam attack.
On a day peppered with notes of irony was Moeen Ali who finally ended the last-wicket stand as his pedestrian part-time spin yielded token reward.
He went at 5.38 an over, including three sixes, but it was six off James Anderson that really stung as Shami, with a previous Test best of 11, smashed the quick for a maximum to go to 50 and bring up the 100 partnership in the process.
Before that opener Murali Vijay had gone for a superb 146 when DRS would have saved him, if his Indian bosses favoured the system, and captain MS Dhoni made a somewhat more perilous 82.
Vijay continued his watchful style at the start of the day whereas Dhoni looked far more vulnerable as he played some loose shots in the first hour.
He should have been out without adding to his overnight score but Matt Prior dropped a relatively straightforward chance off Broad diving to his right. Broad was once again the pick of the England attack with two for 53 from 33 overs.
Profligacy could not be afforded and Dhoni was on 80 by lunch without playing with a tremendous amount of fluidity.
Vijay would not make it through to the interval as he went, lbw to Anderson with a dismissal that was not without irony on a couple of levels. Firstly had the Indians been in favour of reviews then he would have been reprieved as it was going well over the stumps.
Secondly, the ball managed to get up enough to bounce over the stumps, which suggested the pitch isn't quite as bad as previously believed.
India enjoyed the best of the morning but they have been less comfortable after lunch as they lost a burst of wickets through careless play. Ravindra Jadeja was the first to fall as he was caught behind for 25 as Ben Stokes took his first wicket.
Debutant Stuart Binny came out and promptly gave his wicket away, caught by Joe Root at backward point off Stokes for one.
That was a bonus but Dhoni was the big fish. He made the ill-advised decision to take on the arm of Anderson, who did some fine work at mid-off with a direct hit to run him out.
India crumbled to 346 for nine from 344 for five as Ishant Sharma shouldered arms to Broad with a terrible leave. He too made one.
Shami came to the crease with a First Class average of 9.61. Kumar probably had that in his mind as he initially hogged the strike, but then he began to trust the number 11 and the two frustrated England.
That frustration grew and grew with a combination of the pitch, good batting and near misses. Shami edged Ali just past Anderson at slip on ten then as he passed 30 he had further escapes.
First Broad produced an astonishing effort as he narrowly missed a brilliant catch off Liam Plunkett, who saw the last ball of the over fall just short of Ian Bell.
Shami then had an extraordinary escape when he heaved a wild shot high that dropped between on-rushing fielders. Kumar was not without fortune as well as, when on 37, he feathered the ball behind but only Cook appealed.
Kumar progressed smoothly to 50 and then that outrageous six from Shami took the partnership to 100, the highest ever made by a last wicket Indian pair in England.
The dream was over when Shami added one more, finally heaving Ali to Root at deepish mid-on and he took the catch.
England came out positively but they lost Cook on nine with that desperate dismissal. Sam Robson (20 not) and Gary Ballance (15 not out) recovered the situation well.
