England v India: fifth men’s cricket Test, day four - live

Key events 1h ago Preamble Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

2m ago 06.19 EDT 17th over: England 59-1 (Duckett 38, Pope 5) Akash is probing, just a single to Duckett off the over. If England bat through this first session unscathed then India will start to get a bit jittery. Shubman Gill’s captaincy has not been the most robust in his first Test series, England will want him sweating under his baggy blue this afternoon. Share

8m ago 06.13 EDT 16th over: England 58-1 (Duckett 37, Pope 5) Duckett clubs a single to point. Eeeeesht! Pope drives uppishly and with little control and the ball skims just short of the man at cover before tracing away across the square for four. Cue a nervy gasp and then throaty cheer from the England fans. Settle down Ollie lad. Share

10m ago 06.10 EDT 15th over: England 53-1 (Duckett 36, Pope 1) Akash Deep starts from the Vauxhall End to his old mate and cuddle chum Ben Duckett. Ahem. The pint sized batter clips off his ribs to get a single and Pope gets off the mark with an inside edge to square leg. Early signs of some in-swing. Deep gets some more movement to Duckett who gets a thicker edge past the infield for another single. How are your nerves? It’s all a bit much for Paul in Brazil: “Hi. Deep breaths, can they? Will they ? More deep breaths. An enjoyable day ahead!” Share

17m ago 06.04 EDT 14th over: England 50-1 (Duckett 34, Pope 0) Pope defends the first ball of the day solidly to mid-off. Cue a huge cheer from the England fans in the ground. It’s a sell out here at the Oval and I reckon a fifty/fifty split between England and India fans. The atmosphere is fan-flippin-tastic. Share Updated at 06.06 EDT

20m ago 06.01 EDT Right, the players are out there, Jerusalem swirls down the Harleyford Road. Mohammed Siraj has one ball left to complete his over from last evening. Ollie Pope is on strike. Let’s play! Share

21m ago 05.59 EDT “Hi James, keen to know why Woakes cannot be subbed now he’s retired hurt? Surely it’s only fair for England to have a full Second Innings? I’m obviously missing some arcane cricketing law, can you enlighten me please?” It’s exactly that Chris Aird, a player is currently only allowed a sub for a concussion injury. The debate has been swirling in this series due to Pant and Woakes getting crocked in the early stages of Test’s 4 and 5. Injury replacements are due to be trialled by some first class boards later in the year… but as I argued in this week’s Spin, injury replacements aren’t perhaps as straightforward as you’d think. PLUG ALERT: The Spin | Gambhir may bristle but injuries, not substitutes, are a key part of cricket Read more Share

28m ago 05.53 EDT “Hello Jim” G’morning OBO stalwart Krishnamoorthy. “Another Test series coming to an end which is making sure that Test cricket is alive and kicking in the dark times of T20. Probably this is the first Test in this series that is not going to the last session of day 5. It does not matter if it is 3-1 or 2-2 , the winner is cricket and India has a wonderful core around which it can surely build itself into a formidable team. Today’s battle is going to be between the determination of the Indian team vs one J E Root” About time Root got a score. My money is on Brook and Bethell romping it home*. *It absolutely isn’t. But it could be. (It isn’t) Share

34m ago 05.46 EDT The Indian players are out on the outfield here at the Oval, the bowlers getting those shoulders loose and the catchers getting their fingers warm. I have them down as overwhelming favourites today, yesterday England seemed a spent force and suffered their worst day of the series. The wicket of Crawley last thing tipped the scales still further in the visitor’s favour. But the great thing about Test cricket and this England side is you just never know. They could go down in a ball of flames before lunch or take it right down to the wire. Remember they knocked off a similar target serenely in Leeds but that was twenty long days of cricket ago. C’mon then, fling me your predictions. Share

41m ago 05.40 EDT Matthew Doherty emails in with if not the 64 million dollar question then certainly a question. “Hello James, who do you think England’s Jessop is today?” All roads lead to Jamie Overton. Share

53m ago 05.28 EDT England’s performance in the field yesterday was more chaotic than the basket of a Sunday morning Lime bike basket. A discarded vape here, six (SIX) dropped catches there. Is that a splodge of fruit and nut bar? Please tell me it’s fruit and nut bar… Oh look that’s definitely five wides. Would it have happened if Ben Stokes was prowling at short cover with his fatherly death stare? We’ll never know. But we sort of already do. England endure ugly case of the drops without superego Stokes in the field | Barney Ronay Read more Share Updated at 05.48 EDT

Click here to read article