Leeds: Ian Bell shoved Kevin Pietersen out of the limelight with his third century in consecutive Tests against Pakistan on Saturday to put England in a commanding position of the third Test.
The home side added 141 in the morning to reach 488 for eight at lunch on the second day at Headingley, with Sajid Mahmood on 22 not out and Steve Harmison on 30.
Bell was dismissed shortly before lunch for 119. After batting for four and a half hours, he went back to leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and was bowled as he shaped to cut.
It was the 24-year-old's fifth Test century and his fourth against Pakistan. He also became the first England player to score three hundreds in consecutive Tests in the same home series since Allan Lamb against West Indies in 1984.
Pietersen and Bell, whose partnership was interrupted by the former retiring hurt with forearm cramp on Friday evening, were re-united on Saturday morning and extended their stand to 141 before Pietersen departed for 135 in a blaze of attacking strokes.
England resumed on 347 for six, with the game finely balanced. An early Pakistan breakthrough would have immediately exposed the tail but Bell and Pietersen clearly recognised the importance of the session as they began ultra-cautiously. Pietersen, indeed, took 16 balls to add to his overnight 104.
Early Scare
Bell, resuming on 66, had one early scare, diving back into the crease at the non-striker's end just in time after a straight drive from Pietersen was glanced onto the stumps by Umar Gul's fingertips.
The rest of his morning, however, was exemplary, his best stroke an exquisite late cut to the boundary off Gul, the bowler replying with the ball of the session as he fizzed a leg-cutter past Bell's edge.
Bell got to three figures by driving strike bowler Mohammad Sami through the on-side for the right-hander`s 11th boundary.
Bell, who took 172 balls and 225 minutes to complete his achievement, had expected to be dropped after the first Test of the series only to be reprieved when the returning Andrew Flintoff broke down with more ankle trouble.
Pietersen and Bell cannot be compared as cricketers. Pietersen, who could have been dismissed on two, 29 and 104 on Friday, is a one-off in terms of his technique.
He underlined that point with a sudden whirr of attacking strokes. Facing Gul, he appeared to aim a flat-bat sweep towards mid-wicket only to retain the break in his wrists and send the ball though extra cover.
Next over, nowhere near the pitch of the ball, he drove Sami for another four, attempted an immediate repeat off the back foot and then got himself out as he drove to long-off.
He had batted for four and three-quarter hours, facing 169 deliveries and hitting 20 fours and two sixes.
Harmison and Mahmood enlivened proceeding just before lunch with an unbroken stand of 43 off five overs, with Harmison pulling two consecutive sixes off Shahid Nazir.
Graham Gooch trumped Bell's scoring sequence in 1990, but over two home series rather than one.
He scored 154 and 30 against New Zealand, then added 333 and 123 against India, followed by 116 in the next Test.
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