England in driving seat as India reach 204-6

LONDON :England gained the upper hand after a rain-hit first day of the final test against India at The Oval on Thursday as the tourists, needing victory to square the series, battled to 204-6, with all their big guns dismissed cheaply.

England had to work hard for their breakthroughs and will be delighted to have got rid of KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill, the men who have tormented them throughout the summer, though captain Gill gifted his wicket with a suicidal run-out.

Even though there are four days remaining, India's chances of fighting their way into a position where they could force a victory already look extremely slim.

The overcast morning conditions had looked ideal for England's all-seam attack, even without injured captain Ben Stokes, but they lacked a cutting edge.

Gus Atkinson, playing his first match of the series, trapped Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw for two as stand-in captain Ollie Pope finally got on the right side of a DRS review after 14 unsuccessful appeals last year.

Rahul, with over 500 runs to his name from the first four matches, looked relatively untroubled before playing-on to Chris Woakes for 14 as India reached lunch on 72-2.

Gill, averaging over 90 and with four centuries to his name in the series, then inexplicably set off for a non-existent single and was run out by four yards as bowler Atkinson had time to transfer the ball to his right hand before throwing down the stumps.

Gill had started the day with all sorts of records in his sights but, by adding only 21, he achieved only a couple as his tally of 743 took him beyond West Indies’ Garfield Sobers (722 in 1966) as the highest-scoring visiting captain and also moved him into the top nine for the most runs scored in a series in England -