By Ed Osmond
LONDON (Reuters) -India dismissed Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope to take charge of the final test as England moved unconvincingly on to 164-3 at lunch on the fourth day at The Oval on Sunday.
The touring side are a healthy 209 runs ahead with five sessions remaining and need seven more wickets for a victory that would level a gripping series at 2-2.
It could have been even better for India, however, because Harry Brook survived a huge scare when he was caught in the deep by Mohammed Siraj, who then stepped on the boundary cushion and watched on in horror as the umpire signalled a six.
Brook was 38 not out at the interval with Joe Root on 23, and England still have hope of completing by far the highest successful run chase in a test match on this ground.
Resuming on 50-1 on an overcast morning, Duckett posted another half century in a prolific series for him but, on 54, he fell in Prasidh Krishna’s first over, the left-hander edging an outswinger to slip where KL Rahul held a sharp catch.
India bowled with great discipline and fielded excellently to restrict the flow of runs, the bowlers regularly beating the outside edge of the bat with the ball jagging around.
Captain Pope struck Krishna for three fours in one over to move on to 27, but he was undone by another fine delivery from Siraj that trapped him lbw to leave England wobbling on 106-3.
Brook drove Akash Deep over extra cover for six before, on 19, he pulled Krishna high to long leg and had his moment of fortune thanks to Siraj’s error.
(Reporting by Ed Osmond, editing by Clare Fallon)
