( CNN ) -- Alastair Cook made a superb century as England remained on course to leapfrog opponents India as the number one ranked Test team in the world . On another dominant day for England in Birmingham they finished on 456-3 , to lead by 232 after India slumped to 224 all out in their first innings . Cook took full advantage of a lackluster Indian bowling attack by batting all day for an impressive 182 not out with captain Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen also notching half centuries . England are now odds on favorites to go 3-0 up in the four match series and confirm their status as number one . Resuming on 84-0 , Strauss and Cook made a patient start and amassed another 100 runs before Strauss was bowled by Amit Mishra for 87 . Ian Bell made a confident 34 and the ball before he was clean bowled by Praveen Kumar , Cook notched up his 19th century to a standing ovation from the Edgbaston crowd . Pietersen made a brisk start to his innings with Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma coming in for particular punishment . He and Cook put on 122 for the third wicket before Pietersen was given out LBW off Kumar . But that was India 's final breakthrough of the day as Eoin Morgan and Cook put on another 82 before the close of play . India now face a huge task to save the match and prevent being usurped at the top of the world rankings . `` It 's always nice to score runs and especially pleasing when you have n't scored in the last two tests , '' Cook told a press conference . `` It 's been frustrating not getting through that new ball and it was important that when I did I made it count . `` I did a bit of work last week to get myself into better positions as I might have been falling over slightly but the conditions in the last couple of tests have been very tough . ''
England in complete control against India in the third Test match . England close day two on 456-3 , a first innings lead of 232 runs . Alastair Cook remains unbeaten on 182 after batting all day . England on course to win Test and become number one Test side in world .