India finished day four on 58-3 in their second innings of the ongoing Test against England at the Kennington Oval in London. India is chasing a mammoth target of 464 runs to win the Test after England declared on 423-8 in the final session of day four.
The play is scheduled to start on day 5 at 10:00 AM BST, 3:30 PM IST on Tuesday, September 11, 2018.
Alastair Cook, who was playing his final Test innings, scored his 33rd century while English captain Joe Root notched up his 14th Test ton. It was a tiring day for the Indian bowlers which was followed by some dismal batting by the top order batsmen.
Cook and Root's hundreds put England in command
England resumed their second innings at the start of day four on 114-2. Cook and Root batted out the first session completely adding 129 runs in just 31 overs. By the time lunch was called, Cook had reached his hundred while Root was in the 90s. The wicketless session did hurt Indians badly as the overall lead for the hosts was already a little over 280 runs.
England's day by a mile! Cook and Root's brilliant stand, followed by Anderson's early strikes, had India on the mat.
— SPN- Sports (@SPNSportsIndia) September 10, 2018
However, the pair of Rahul and Rahane avoided further hiccups to see India through. Can they grind it out tomorrow? #KyaHogaIssBaar #ENGvIND #SPNSports pic.twitter.com/1BNhvBN3vf
After the lunch break, the pair of Root and Cook continued to bat positively with an intend to bat the visitors out of the game.
Root had brought up his hundred as the lead was more than 350 runs. Root was finally dismissed for 125 runs by Hanuma Vihari, who ended up picking the wicket of Cook for 147 runs with his very next ball.
England's score was 321-4 at that moment, as Cook walked out to the pavilion for the last time in international cricket. There were cheers and applause from the entire crowd at the Oval for the legendary England opening batsman.
England's lower order started taking the attack to the Indian bowlers but lost a few wickets in an attempt to do that. With the score at 423-8, Root decided to call back his men to the dressing room as the hosts set a massive target of 464 runs for the visitors. Vihari and Jadeja picked up three wickets each for India while Mohammad Shami got two wickets.
India's another batting nightmare
India's chase began in the most disastrous way ever possible. Dhawan, Pujara, and Kohli got out in the phase of just two overs as India found themselves on the verge of another defeat.
Only two runs were put on the board with the loss of three wickets when Ajinkya Rahane walked to bat with KL Rahul. The pair clinched a 50-run partnership by the end of the day's play.
Rahul will be walking out of the pavilion on the final day with a score of 46 runs while Rahane will resume his innings at 10 runs. India still needs 406 runs to win the Test.