Half-centuries from Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur helped push India’s second-innings lead past 350 on Day 4 at The Oval. However, England made an inspiring start with the bat to set-up the final day wonderfully on what remains a batting surface.
The home team’s openers Rory Burns (31*) and Haseeb Hameed (43*) made a confident start, wiping out 77 of the 368 runs England require for a victory in the third session.
Despite left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja testing their resolve in the latter half of his elongated spell, with some rough spots to work with outside the left-hander’s off-stump, Burns and Hameed held their own and didn’t allow the Indians to make any inroads by the close of play.
Even though a lead of 367 looks huge on paper and shall still help them maintain ascendency, Indians miss out on the opportunity to take one result completely out of the equation, losing their last seven wickets on the day for 196 runs.
The tourists started off promisingly, with skipper Virat Kohli and premier all-rounder Jadeja playing out the second new-ball threat quite professionally. Even if only scoring 17 off 59 balls, Jadeja showcased a tight defence and willingness to fight through a tough patch. While Jadeja batted sedately at one end, Kohli grew in confidence with every ball he faced and produced a few delightful extra-cover drives.
The Kohli-Jadeja stand, seemingly only 49 runs in numbers, was vital given they were facing England’s three best bowlers – James Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Chris Woakes – for most of it with a new shiny Dukes ball. By the time Jadeja got out LBW to Woakes, he had forced England to rest Anderson and Robinson after their prolonged spells, which helped Thakur and Pant when they batted.
Ajinkya Rahane (0) failed to open his account, getting out LBW to Woakes only two overs later. But despite Pant walking out, England couldn’t bring Robinson, his series nemesis, back for a short burst, perhaps wary of his workload and fatigue with the next Test starting in five day’s time.
It helped Pant enormously, as he got to face off-spinner Moeen Ali at one end and Craig Overton at the other, with the field, send back as opposition skipper Joe Root feared conceding quick runs.
Pant smartly took the easy singles on offer and looked to get set before he could open up. At the other end, Kohli, who had made a critical 44, was out edging one to Moeen out of the blue and England were suddenly feeling more optimistic.
However, their hopes were thwarted again by an important fifty from Thakur. He made just as crucial a fifty on Day 1 to keep India in the contest. He stitched a 100-run stand with Pant, scoring 60 off 72 himself whilst his partner also reached his first half-century (50) for the series.
And despite them falling in quick succession, India now had a lead over 300. The lead was extended to 367 by useful contributions from the tail, including a 25 from Umesh Yadav and 24 from Jasprit Bumrah.
But one couldn’t help but feel, India still left some more runs out on the ground on a surface playing amazingly true for a Day 4 pitch. Had India managed another 50 runs and taken out more overs from the game, that would’ve meant England starting their innings deeper into the final session with next to no hope of achieving the target. Now they are in with a slender chance of winning.
Brief scores
England 290 & 77/0 (Haseeb Hameed 43*, Rory Burns 31*; Jasprit Bumrah 0/11, Umesh Yadav 0/13) need a further 291 runs to beat India 191 & 466 (Rohit Sharma 127, Cheteshwar Pujara 61; Chris Woakes 3/83, Ollie Robinson 2/105)
