Twitter Reactions: Oval Test hangs in balance after yet another intriguing day

England need 291 runs, India need 10 wickets. This is the simple equation going into the final day of the ongoing fourth Test at The Oval. The pitch continued to stay flat on the fourth day as first Indian batsmen and then England openers made merry on it. The visitors, thanks to the lower-order contributions, extended their lead to 367 runs to tire out England bowlers on a hot day.

The day began with India at 270/3 with the lead of 171 runs. It was only the matter of how many runs they score to set a target for England. But after a sedate start, Chris Woakes’ introduction turned the game on its head. He sent back Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane in quick succession pinning them flush in front of the stumps. Virat Kohli, meanwhile, looked good playing a few glorious drives.

But Moeen Ali’s deceptive found an edge of his bat and the catch was taken at slip to leave India in trouble at 312/6. The lead was only 213 runs then and England yet again had a sniff. Well, but one can’t be sure of anything until Shardul Thakur is in the middle. After making an impact in the first innings, the man was at it again, with Rishabh Pant this time, showing good resilience and patience.

With conditions looking good to bat, the duo, especially Shardul took toll of the tiring English attack. His thumping straight drives and backfoot punches off both pacers and spinners. He also got to the half-century off just 65 balls and quicker and earlier than his partner Pant.

The duo added 100 runs for the seventh wicket before the part-timer Joe Root broke the stand inducing an edge off Thakur’s bat but not before he smashed 60 runs. Soon Rishabh Pant got to his fifty but chipped one straight back to Moeen Ali in the very next over. England would’ve then hoped for a quick end to the innings. But there was more frustration written in their fate.

Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav decided to have some fun in the middle. Both of them played some authentic shots, especially the former, to score 24 and 25 runs respectively as they too added 36 runs together. It took a whopping 148.2 overs for England to wrap India’s innings who scored 466 runs to set the target of 368 for the home team.

Burns and Hameed give England a solid start

After fielding for close to 700 minutes, England openers Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns strode out to the middle and did a commendable job. The duo didn’t give India any chance in the 32 overs of play in the final session. Burns had to negotiate Ravindra Jadeja who was constantly landing the ball into the rough and despite being uncomfortable on occasions, the left-hander did well hang in the middle.

England ended the day at 77/0 and they now need 291 runs on the final day. As it has been throughout the Test, the first session will be crucial with the ball expected to do a bit in the first hour.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: