London: India had a cracking first session until Lunch here at The Oval despite a flat track at disposal as the bowlers owing to accurate line and length and relentless pressure picked two wickets in opener Rory Burns (50 off 125) and Dawid Malan (5 off 33) on Monday.
England were 131 runs at the loss of two wickets till Lunch.
Burns was caught by wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant off a Shardul Thakur delivery that was angled in and moved away taking the outside edge of Burns -- the first and crucial break of the morning on Day 5 of the Test match.
Haseeb Hameed (62 off 187), who has looked the most comfortable so far was offered a lifeline after Mohammed Siraj missed a simple catch. Hameed tried to take on Jadeja but couldn't make the contact, but Siraj at mid-on failed to judge the speed of the ball resulting in the ball popping out of his hands.
Malan was later run out by substitute fielder Mayank Agarwal resulting in another crack at the England batting line-up.
In-form batsman Joe Root (8 off 14) and Hameed are at the crease currently as England look to save the day and the Test match.
Jadeja would be the man hereon that Indian skipper Virat Kohli would rely heavily on due to the rough patches on a day five pitch, which is providing a lot of assistance in turning the ball. One can't help but miss Ravichandran Ashwin under the circumstances, but fast bowlers too have done their job well by being disciplined and sticking to basics.
However, the man standing between India and victory would be Joe Root who so far has three centuries to his name.
Brief Scores:
India: 191 and 466
England: 290 and 131 for 2 in 59 overs. (H Hameed batting 62, R Burns 50; S Thakur 1/15).
