Rahul, Pujara take India to 53/1 at tea after England’s 332

A cautious India reached 53 for one in reply to England’s first innings score of 332 at tea on the second day of the fifth and final cricket Test at the Oval here on Saturday.

At the break, opener KL Rahul was batting on 35, while giving him company was Cheteshwar Pujara on 15. The duo had put on 47 runs for the unbroken second wicket stand.

Left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan’s torrid time with the bat continues in the tour as he made just 3.

India still trail England by 279 runs with nine wickets in hand.

Replying to England’s total, the visitors made a poor start and lost opener Dhawan early, out trapped LBW by Stuart Broad (1/12) in the second over.

Rahul though batted with more freedom than in the earlier Tests, and looked to play his shots as he hit four fours.

Pujara, meanwhile, was solid at the other end as they played out a nearly chanceless session.

Pujara, though, survived a good LBW shout as TV replays showed England should have opted for DRS but they didn’t.

After a comfortable passage of play, Moeen Ali (0/9) teased the two unbeaten batsmen before the tea break as India crossed the 50-run mark.

Pujara survived again, on 10, when Alastair Cook put down a catch at forward short leg in the 16th over.

Earlier in the morning session, Jos Buttler scored his 10th career half-century to rescue England to 304 for eight as Indian bowlers struggled to wrap up the home team’s tail.

Starting at overnight score of 198 for seven, the Indian pacers found some lateral movement in the morning but were unable to get the English tail-enders’ out.

The English tail-enders’ performance has been the main reason why India are 1-3 down in the series, and it was a near-repeat effort from the home team’s lower-order on Saturday morning as Indian bowlers failed to get wickets despite getting assistance from the pitch.

Mohammed Shami (0/72) was again India’s best bowler on Saturday, beating the bat again and again but luck didn’t favour him.

Adil Rashid (15) and Buttler pushed the score past 200 quickly as 45 runs came in the first hour of play.

Jasprit Bumrah (3/64) did account for the wicket of Rashid, out lbw in the seventh over of the morning despite a DRS referral from the batsman.

But Buttler and Broad denied the Indian bowlers any further breakthroughs in the remainder of session, much to the frustration of the Indians.

Buttler reached his half-century off 84 balls as England crossed 250 in the 104th over.

Later, Buttler brought up his 50-run partnership with Broad off 61 balls as England quick scoring rate added to India’s frustration.

India reduced England to 181 for seven at one stage on Friday, but now the game seemed to be slipping away from the visitors.

England have already taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series with wins in Birmingham, Lord’s and Southampton. India won the third Test at Nottingham.

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