London [UK], August 3 : Centuries from Joe Root and Harry Brook put England in the driver's seat, while the Indian pace unit continues to give hope following a late fightback, as the action of the fifth and final Test at The Oval is all set to reach the final day on Monday due to rain and bad light interrupting proceedings during the day four.
At the end of the day's play, England was 339/6, with Jamie Overton (0*) and Jamie Smith (2*) unbeaten. England still need 35 runs to win, with uncertainty over Chris Woakes coming to bat or not after a shoulder injury. Wickets from Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna towards the end and a relentless spell from Mohammed Siraj towards the end of the session give India fans some hope that India will make the Three Lions toil really hard for these remaining runs.
England kick-started the second session at 164/3, with Joe Root (23*) and Harry Brook (38*) unbeaten.
Brook started the session positively, getting two boundaries against Prasidh Krishna in the first over itself. Brook reached his 14th Test fifty in 39 balls, with six fours and two sixes.
England's attacking intent continued to pay dividends as they reached the 200-run mark in 44 overs, bringing down the target to 174 runs.
Both Yorkshire lads continued batting at a good tick, reaching their 100-run stand in just 108 balls.
Frustration continued for India as Brook-Root continued to milk singles comfortably and Root reached his 67th Test fifty in 81 balls, with six fours.
Brook was scoring runs at a fine strike rate, taking England to 239/3 at drinks, with England 135 runs away from a win.
England brought up their 250-run mark in 53.5 overs as the assault continued on India. Eventually, the target got under 100 runs.
Brook continued his fine Test run, racing to his 10th Test ton in 91 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes.
With two crunchy boundaries on two successive balls against Akash in the 63rd over, Brook helped England to their 300-run mark. However, Akash had the last laugh, with a catch from Siraj at mid-off, who initially dropped Brook, ending the right-hander's knock at 111 in 98 balls, with 14 fours and two sixes. England was 301/4.
Siraj appealed for lbw against Root, but the Englishman survived and moved into his late 90s with two boundaries against him in the same over. At 317/4, tea was taken as it was raining hard. England needed 57 runs to win.
After the play resumed, Root reached his 39th Test ton in 137 balls, with 12 fours, as the target was finally below 50 runs.
The faint hope for India continued, as Prasidh cleaned up Jacob Bethell for a single-digit score. England was 332/5. Root survived some close leg-before-wicket calls, with India giving their all, especially Mohammed Siraj.
The hard work paid off, with Prasidh inducing a nick, sending back Root for 105 in 152 balls, with 12 fours. England was 337/6.
The rain and bad light interrupted the action once again, causing the proceedings to delayed till the final day.
At the stroke of Lunch on Day 4, England was 164/3 with Root and Brook unbeaten on the crease. The Three Lions need 210 more runs, and on the other hand, India needed six wickets to win the game. Two wickets and 114 runs were scored in this session. One wicket each was scalped by Siraj (2/44 in 12 overs) and Krishna (1/74 in 13 overs) in their respective spells.
The hosts resumed the fourth day of The Oval test from 50/1 with Ben Duckett 34(48) unbeaten on the crease as they still needed 324 runs to win the match. Right-hand batter Ollie Pope joined the opener as the first session kicked off.
Siraj and Akash Deep started the proceedings for the visitors. Both of them bowled tight spells in the first hour of the session as they managed to get a lot of edges from the English batters. Duckett completed his fifty in 76 balls. He was sent back to the pavilion as Prasidh Krishna dismissed the left-hand batter 54(83), with six fours. England was 82/2.
After the opener's dismissal, Joe Root came out to bat. The hosts crossed the 100-run mark in the 27th over as Pope smashed a boundary on the bowling of Krishna.
At the score of 106, England lost their third wicket as Siraj dismissed Pope 27(34), with five boundaries, in the same manner in which he did in the first innings.
Following Pope's dismissal, Harry Brook came out to bat. Just before the end of the first session, the English team touched the 150-run mark. Brook and Root completed their 50-run partnership in the 36th over. Before going back for Lunch, both batters built an unbeaten 58(63) run partnership.
England ended the third day at 50/1, with Ben Duckett (34*) unbeaten.
The third day started for India at 75/2, with Yashasvi Jaiswal (51*) and Akash Deep (4*) unbeaten. The duo put on an entertaining partnership, with Akash (66 in 94 balls, with 12 fours) getting an entertaining half-century as a nightwatchman.
While England got back in the game with quick wickets of Akash, skipper Shubman Gill (11) and Karun Nair (17), reducing India to 229/5, Jaiswal stood tall, forming a 44-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja and ending with 118 in 164 balls, with 14 fours and two sixes before falling to Josh Tongue.
Jadeja put on a half-century stand for the seventh-wicket with Dhruv Jurel (34 in 46 balls, with four boundaries) and took India past the 300-run mark. Quick wickets of Jadeja (53 in 77 balls, with five fours) and Mohammed Siraj (0) brought England back in the game, but some incredible hitting from Washington Sundar (53 in 46 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) took India to 396, increasing their lead to 373 runs.
Tongue (5/125) was the leading bowler for England, with Gus Atkinson getting three and Jamie Overton getting two scalps as well.
England had opted to bowl first, with Karun Nair's half-century being a highlight in India's 224 runs as Gus Atkinson (5/33) and Josh Tongue (3/57) bowled well. England could only get a 23-run lead, with Siraj (4/83) and Krishna (4/62) helping India bundle them out for 247, despite fifties from Zak Crawley (64 in 57 balls, with 14 fours) and Harry Brook (53 in 64 balls, with five fours and a six).
Brief Scores: England: 247 and 339/6 (Harry Brook 111, Joe Root 105, Prasidh Krishna 3/109) vs India: 224 and 396: Yashasvi Jaiswal 118, Akash Deep 66, Josh Tongue 5/125).
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