Late India comeback sets up a thrilling finale against England

Prasidh Krishna snapped two wickets in quick succession in the final session to keep India in the game, and the hunt for a series draw alive against England.

The breakthroughs pulled a bit of momentum in India’s favor as the fourth day’s play at The Oval came to a premature end owing to late showers and bad light.

Earlier in the day, the visitors were under the pump after Harry Brook and Joe Root compiled a 195-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Still requiring 324 runs at the beginning of Day 4 in the series decider, having lost Zak Crawley off the final ball on Day 3, England were pegged back after losing two wickets in the opening session.

Ben Duckett, who went on to score his third half-century of the ongoing series, was removed by Prasidh Krishna. The right-arm seamer induced an outside edge off the left-hander, which was nabbed by KL Rahul in the slips cordon.

Mohammed Siraj, who cleaned up Crawley to help India finish the third day’s play on a high note, then removed England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope.

India almost nabbed a third wicket before Lunch but Harry Brook would earn a reprieve as Siraj completed his catch off Krishna but stepped outside the boundary rope.

Brook and Root then pulled the momentum back in England’s favour.

The 26-year-old took the initiative, scoring his second century of the five-Test series at a brisk rate - off just 91 deliveries. Brook’s innings included a sizzling 14 boundaries and two maximums, before Siraj eventually claimed him off Akash Deep at 111.

Root, on the other hand, complemented England’s white-ball skipper with a calculative approach - ticking off another milestone in his fabled Test career.

The seasoned campaigner continued to motor on, bringing up his 39th Test century on the other side of the break, going past Kumar Sangakkara (38) in the all-time tally.

The ton accounts for a third from Root in the ongoing series - finishing as England's top-scorer - scoring 105 off 152 deliveries.

However, just as England were breezing to a big win, India found an opening with two wickets in quick succession in the final session.

Krishna removed Jacob Bethell, uprooting the middle stump out of the ground to hand India a fifth wicket on the day.

The right-arm seamer, who claimed a four-wicket haul in the first innings went on to claim the big wicket of Joe Root, inducing an edge off which wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel held onto behind the stumps.

With the fifth Test evenly poised, rain would force an early stoppage with England 339/6, as the fate of a fiercely contested five-Test ICC World Test Championship series moves into the final day.