Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly treated England's pace attack with contempt in a fearsome onslaught which left the shell-shocked hosts with no place to hide in the Headingley gloom last night.

Tendulkar (185 not out) reached his 30th Test century to take him above Don Bradman into second in the all-time list - and then ploughed mercilessly on in a third-wicket stand of 150 with Rahul Dravid (148) and a punishing, record 249 for the fourth with his captain Ganguly (128).

The result - after a breathless evening passage of play under heavy cloud cover and in semi-darkness which brought India 96 runs in 11 overs against the third new ball - was an awesome 584 for four.

Tendulkar acknowledged even by his own standards the innings was something special.

''You just wish those kinds of days would come more often than they do - it was a very satisfying day,'' he said.

His and Ganguly's unprecedented run rampage followed immediately after England took the new ball and the umpires offered India the chance to go off for bad light.

But as they both later explained, needing to win this third Test to stay in with a chance of prevailing in a four-match series they trail 1-0, there was no way they could sanction losing any time.

''Towards the end we decided we needed to go for big shots. The situation demanded some quick runs for us,'' said Tendulkar.

His captain confirmed: ''We had decided that in the last 10 or 15 overs we needed to get some quick runs on the board.

''We knew we had to carry on despite the light because we could not afford to lose time.''

There was much satisfaction to be had for Ganguly, who took particular toll of Ashley Giles in one over which cost the slow left-armer 23 runs.

But in truth the day belonged to Tendulkar, who clearly retains a deep affection for the venue where he made history as Yorkshire's first overseas player 10 years ago.

He said: ''To score a hundred on your home county ground is something special, and when it comes in a Test match too I am pretty happy about that.

''When I played for Yorkshire I was given standing ovations - so I am glad they are continuing all these years on.''

He is not getting carried away, though, by the fact he has now gone above Bradman in the list of Test centurions.

After all it has taken him 99 Tests to do so, while Bradman needed only a barely believable 52.

Tendulkar added: ''Statistically I have surpassed Sir Donald Bradman. But I don't think anyone can be compared to a player of his stature.

''He is not a normal person. To score a century in every third Test innings is something you cannot even dream of.''

After Dravid had departed following 23 fours in his 307-ball innings, Ganguly hit three sixes and 13 fours in only 167 balls and Tendulkar struck three sixes and 18 fours from 321 in his highest score against England.

While there was much for all of them to reflect happily on, England wicketkeeper Alec Stewart was forced to assess where his team had gone so wrong to haemorrhage runs in apparently bowler-friendly conditions.

He said: ''For the second day running we have not bowled anywhere near as well as we can or should.

''But credit to India. They have batted exceptionally well, and Sachin Tendulkar has shown why he is the best player in the world.''

Dravid and Ganguly's were the only wickets to fall - the former stumped off Giles and the latter eventually bowled backing away for another big hit at Alex Tudor to bring some much-needed respite for England by way of an early close.

There were 23 fours in Dravid's 307-ball innings, while Ganguly hit three sixes and 13 fours in only 167 balls.

Tendulkar ploughed on mercilessly for 321 balls, hitting three sixes and 18 fours for his highest score against England.

* Nottinghamshire's recent resurgence continued as they completed an innings victory over Gloucestershire in the Frizzell County Championship. Despite the loss of the first session of the third day due to rain at Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire were not troubled for long as they wrapped another Second Division win. Beginning the day still needing another 212 to make the hosts bat at again, Gloucestershire rallied thanks to a gritty unbeaten 45 from Jack Russell but Stuart MacGill finished off the job. The Australian leg-spinner claimed four of the remaining five wickets to take his tally to 27 in three championship matches and condemn Gloucestershire to defeat by an innings and 85 runs.

Northamptonshire also completed a straightforward victory as they saw off Glamorgan by eight wickets at Wantage Road.