India on the ropes

LONDON (AP): India limped to 103 for five at close of play on day three of the fourth Test against England yesterday, 289 runs short of the follow-on target and facing the real possibility of a series whitewash.

Ian Bell's 235 helped England heap on the pressure with a declaration of 591 for six at tea, and the tourists then slumped to 13 for two with the loss of Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman inside the first five overs.

Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar put on 55 for the third wicket at The Oval to become test cricket's most prolific partnership but Graeme Swann dismissed Tendulkar for 23.

Swann finished with three for 27 and only Dravid's unbeaten 57 saved India from even more complete humiliation.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed some spirit with a four off the final ball of the day to finish on five not out, but India looks certain to at least start its second innings during what is forecast to be a dry Sunday.

Rain washed out the whole of the second session to deny England an even bigger total and reduce India's time at the crease, but the tourists still have a long way to go to avoid a 4-0 series loss.

successive fours

Sehwag hit successive fours before James Anderson trapped him lbw with the final ball of the first over.

The fifth ball of Stuart Broad's second over then deviated dramatically after it passed Laxman's bat and the next snared the batsman, the bounce clipping the edge of a defensive prod and flying straight to Matthew Prior's waiting gloves.

Dravid and Tendulkar passed West Indies greats Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haines in the list of all-time test partnerships before the Little Master fell to Swann, leaving him still stranded on 99 international centuries.

Swann, who has largely been overshadowed by the pace bowlers this series, had already turned a couple of deliveries and had a shout for a catch off Dravid's forearm turned down when Tendulkar tried to sweep him - sending a top edge spinning into the air for Anderson to drop back from slip and catch.

Suresh Raina then faced 29 deliveries without scoring before he was stumped in a hairline decision from third umpire Steve Davis.

With Gautam Gambhir absent with a mild concussion sustained when dropping Kevin Pietersen on Friday, the fielders huddled around Ishant Sharma. The nightwatchman soon folded, caught at short leg by Alastair Cook off Swann for just 1.

"We wanted to get as many runs as we could first innings," Bell said. "The wicket was wearing quite a lot so we thought spin was going to come into it. If we came out with the wrong attitude tonight the game could have quickly slipped to a draw.

"Our bowling was fantastic. It would have been very easy for us to come out and go through the motions."

While England has passed 500 three times in six innings and has 2,809 runs at an average of 59.77, India has managed only 1,564 at 24.06.

SCOREBOARD

England 1st Innings

(Overnight 457-3)

A. Strauss c Dhoni b Sreesanth 40A. Cook c Sehwag b Sharma 34I. Bell lbw b Raina 235K. Pietersen c & b Raina 175J. Anderson c Laxman b Sreesanth 13E. Morgan c Dhoni b Sreesanth 1R. Bopara not out 44M. Prior not out 18Extras: (6b, 8lb, 7w, 10nb) 31Total: (declared for 6 wickets) 591Overs: 153.

Fall of wickets: 1-75, 2-97, 3-447, 4-480, 5-487, 6-548.

Did not bat: Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann.

Bowling: RP Singh 34-7-118-0 (1nb, 1w), I. Sharma 31-7-97-1 (1nb, 1w), Sreesanth 29-2-123-3 (4nb), S. Raina 19-2-58-2, A. Mishra 38-3-170-0 (4nb, 1w), S. Tendulkar 2-0-11-0.

India 1st Innings

V. Sehwag lbw b Anderson 8R. Dravid not out 57VVS Laxman c Prior b Broad 2S. Tendulkar c Anderson b Swann 23S. Raina st Prior b Swann 0I. Sharma c Cook b Swann 1M.S. Dhoni not out 5Extras: (5lb, 2w) 7Total: (for 5 wickets) 103Overs: 33.

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-13, 3-68, 4-93, 5-95.

Still to bat: Gautam Gambhir, Amit Mishra, Sreesanth, RP Singh.

Bowling: J. Anderson 5-1-21-1, S. Broad 10-1-22-1, T. Bresnan 7-0-25-0 (1w), G. Swann 10-3-27-3, K. Pietersen 1-0-3-0.

Toss: England.

Series: England lead 3-0.

Umpires: Simon Taufel, Australia, and Rod Tucker, Australia.