Gary Ballance and Ian Bell piled on the runs to cement England’s strong position in the second Test against India at Southampton on Monday.

At lunch, England were 3-358 with Ballance falling shortly before the break for a Test-best 156.

Together with Bell (68 not out), Ballance put on 142 for the third wicket.

Joe Root was two not out at the break as England, 1-0 down in the five-match series, look to square the series.

England’s total also owed much to captain Alastair Cook’s 95 that saw the left-handed opener end a run of low scores if not a sequence that now extends to 28 innings without a Test hundred.

Ballance then surpassed his previous highest Test score of 110, made last time out at Lord’s, with three fours in four Kumar balls, as a cut was followed by a leg glance and then a well-timed punch through midwicket.

That Bell, without a hundred in his 19 previous Test innings, was finding his best form was evident when he struck one of his signature shots by advancing down the pitch to drive left-arm spinner Jadeja for a straight six.

His single off Mohammed Shami then saw Bell to a 99-ball fifty.

As the sun broke through the clouds, conditions were near-ideal for batting, with India’s attack lacking physical threat on a pitch where there was only slow turn for their spin bowlers.

Ballance pulled Singh down to the fine leg boundary to get to 150 in 278 balls with 23 fours.

But soon afterwards the 24-year-old was given out caught behind off the gentle spin of Rohit Sharma, the recalled batsman taking his first Test wicket, to end a stay of more than six hours at the crease.

Australian umpire Rod Tucker’s decision was understandable given the noise, but replays showed the ball had hit Ballance’s back pad, not his bat, on its way through to India captain and wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

However, with no Decision Review System this series because of Indian objections, Tucker’s verdict stood.