India stare at another defeat against England

LONDON: England took a stranglehold on the final Test ­ and the five-match series versus India ­ with a none-too-convincing but effective show with the bat.
Resuming on their overnight tally of 62 for no loss, the home team ended Day 2 at The Oval on 385/7 ­ a lead of 237 runs in the first innings ­ with three days remaining in the match.
England owed their position of pre-eminence to a rather sketchy knock of 79 by their skipper Alastair Cook and a commanding unbeaten 92 by young Joe Root.
Cook and Root were each involved in two significant partnerships that sandwiched a mid-innings collapse.
After Cook and Gary Ballance combined to produce 125 runs for the second wicket, England lost four wickets for 38 runs before recovering through a rollicking 80-run stand between Root and Jos Buttler for the seventh wicket.
Buttler missed his third successive half-century, since making his debut at Ageas Bowl, by five runs but there was no stopping Root who became the third England player after Wally Hammond and Peter May to log half-centuries in every Test in a series.
With a crushing lead already at his command, Cook is likely to allow Root enough time to complete his century before unleashing his four pacers on India in a bid to seal the series 3-1 and keep the Pataudi Trophy.
Earlier this morning India's club-class attack failed to make good use of the pace and bounce in the pitch. Their cause was not helped by some very ordinary effort in the slips that bestowed two 'lives' on Cook.
The England captain, who was lucky not be declared LBW to Bhuvneshwar Kumar by umpire Paul Reiffel in the final session on Friday, was grassed by Murali Vijay at first slip off Varun Aaron after lunch on Saturday when he was on 65. He had another reprieve on 70 as Ajinkya Rahane failed to latch on to a regulation edge off R Ashwin's bowling.
Cook, who also played some glorious pulls off both Aaron and Ishant Sharma, fell while tempting fate again. This time Vijay held the offering low down much to the delight of Aaron, who had disturbed Sam Robson's woodwork with his fifth ball of the day. Robson, who has looked the only weak link in England's line-up, played down the wrong line after adding just one boundary to his overnight score.
But with Ballance batting like a champion and MS Dhoni not introducing spin before the 39th over, both batsmen had enough time to settle down. A stylish cover drive by Ballance off Ashwin, on the stroke of lunch, brought England level with India's meagre first innings tally of 148.
Cook's departure triggered a mini collapse with Ashwin snaring two wickets for three runs in eight balls, getting Ballance and Moeen Ali. Ballance, who continues to maintain a Test average of over 60 since making his debut in Australia, offered a simple catch to silly point and Ali played on.
Ishant produced a brute to get Bell. He and Bhuvneshwar struck once each with the second new ball to dismiss Buttler and Chris Woakes, respectively before Root and Chris Jordan added another 67 runs to all but seal India's fate.