Oval Test, 4th Day Highlights: Hameed, Burns thwart India's ambitions with unbeaten stand

The opening pair of Burns and Hameed have put on a 60-run stand until now to lead England’s reply in pursuit of 368 runs as Indian bowlers are toiling hard to create opportunities.

Jadeja has been employed continuously from one end and he has been assigned the task of pitching the ball in the rough patches outside the off stump of Burns. 

Kohli is trying to rotate his quicks from the other end while the English openers are chipping away at the target of 368 runs.

India set a target of 368 runs for England to chase and go 2-1 up in the series with more than three and a half sessions remaining in the game, and the openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed with little to no discomfort against the new ball to take England past the 40-run mark.

A lot of India’s hope hinges on Ravindra Jadeja’s shoulders if they are to win this Test and the left-arm spinner has not started well with the ball. He was so unlike him in line and length and bowled quite a lot of loose deliveries for his standards.

India are not playing any spinner and all the help from the rough patches outside the off stump of left-handers will have to be exploited by him only and hence India need him to find his rhythm back as soon as possible.

The pitch at the Oval appears to be pretty flat with no help for any sort of pacers and Jadeja’s bowling performance will dictate how far the Virat Kohli-led side will go in the game.

Shardul Thakur scored his second fifty of the game and put England bowlers to the sword as India surpassed the 300-run mark in lead. He was superb against the offpsin of Moeen Ali and variations of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson.

India were in a wobbly position after Virat Kohli was sent back to the pavilion by Moeen Ali when the lead was just above 200.

He has put on a 100-run partnership with Rishabh Pant after Kohli’s departure to take the game beyond England’s grasp.

Establishing his batting credentials for one more time in the fourth Test, Shardul Thakur batted with absolute authority and flair and stitched a valiant 50-run partnership with Rishabh Pant to extend India’s lead past the 260-run mark.

Pant has bucked the string of low scores in the series so far and has batted with the perfect mixture of aggression and defence of good balls. The partnership has been and will be instrumental in setting up a good total for England to chase in the fourth innings at the Oval.

If the wickets of Jadeja and Rahane were not enough for England to come roaring back in the game, Moeen Ali eliminated the biggest threat for the hosts in the form of Virat Kohli. The Indian skipper was forced to come forward against a delivery that appeared to turn towards him but it pitched and kept on going straight. 

The outside edge was snaffled by Craig Overton in the slip and the middle order has squandered all the hard work of the top order batsmen once again and handed England a big opportunity to get back in the game.

Kohli is looking in imperious touch as both Robinson and Anderson have offered him half volleys in desperation to swing the ball away from him. He has played two crisp drives through the cover and straight down the ground.

Meanwhile, Chris Woakes has provided a way back for England with the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja with a delivery that swung back into the left-hander. He was late in picking the swing and length and was found in front of the stumps.

He also created doubts in the mind of an underconfident Ajinkya Rahane, who came to bat at number six to replace Jadeja at the crease. Expecting the ball to curve away after the sharp inswing to Jadeja, Rahane was looking to leave the ball and the ball carried went the other way after pitching to hit his pads. Luckily, India's vice-captain survived.

England would have been looking to strike early on the fourth day to keep India in check while the tourists started the day at 171 runs ahead of the 99 runs lead secured by the hosts.

However, the unbeaten batsmen skipper Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja were in no hurry and did not offer the hosts any chance in the first half an hour of the day. They extended the lead to 17 runs while the opening pair of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson failed to extract too much out of the surface at the Oval.