India were 174 for six in reply to England’s first-innings 332, a deficit of 158 runs, at stumps on the second day of the fifth Test at the Oval on Saturday.
Test debutant Hanuma Vihari was 25 not out, with Ravindra Jadeja unbeaten on eight.
India suffered a huge blow before the close when captain and star batsman Virat Kohli, the leading run-scorer this series, was caught at second slip by England skipper Joe Root off Ben Stokes for 49.
Earlier, England scored over a hundred runs in Saturday’s morning session after resuming in trouble on their overnight 198 for seven.
Jos Buttler, on his 28th birthday, made 89 – the fourth time in England’s last five Test innings he has been the top-scorer – before he was last man out, caught at slip off Jadeja.
Jadeja, playing his first match this series, led India’s attack with four wickets for 79 runs in 30 overs.
India’s susceptibility to quality swing bowling once again came to the fore as they struggled against Anderson and Co.
India’s top-order disappointed once again with Shikhar Dhawan (3) failing once again in what could be his last Test innings for a considerable period of time.
KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara made identical 37 to stitch together 64 runs for the second wicket to stabilise the Indian innings before the English bowlers got back into the groove, picking up crucial wickets when it mattered.
After the final break of the day, conditions favoured bowlers a lot more under heavy cloudy conditions and floodlights as the ball darted around with James Anderson (2/20) and Sam Curran (1/46) troubling the Indian batsmen most.
Rahul looked set for a big score before Curran went through his defense with a nearly unplayable delivery in the 23rd over.
Thereafter, India lost three wickets for 33 runs as Anderson wreaked havoc with the moving ball, dismissing both Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane in quick succession.
Pujara was caught behind, while Rahane (0) was caught at slip in the space of 13 balls.
Just like previous matches, India skipper Kohli (49) looked in great nick and seemed determined to take his side out of troubled waters with positive intent. He hit six boundaries during his 70-ball knock and looked batting easy even as his colleagues struggled.
But Kohli perished while trying to be too positive, edging a Ben Stokes (2/44) delivery to his counterpart Joe Root at the slip cordon.
Vihari looked out of sorts against Stuart Broad’s (1/25) inswingers initially. The bowler had two LBW shouts against the debutants – the first of which looked out on replays but England didn’t opt for DRS.
Vihari then regained his composure and batted till the end of day in company of Jadeja (8 not out)
In between, young wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant (5) again failed to cash in on the opportunity edging a Stokes delivery to Alastair Cook on the slip cordon.
England lead this five-match contest 3-1.
(With AFP and PTI inputs)
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