The Final Test At The Oval.

After winning the toss for the fifth consecutive time, captain Joe Root opted to bat - but he was one of a number of England batsmen who did the side no favours as they ended the first day on a feeble score of 198 for 7 - and that only courtesy of the soon-to-retire Alastair Cook.

On day two, step forward Josh Buttler who held the tail together and guided England to a mightily respectable 332 all out on a wicket where both swing and seam were in evidence along with a degree of spin. In Mumbai this would have been wholly inadequate but at the Oval, it looks like being more than enough.

The England bowlers smashed India to a rather poor 174 for 6 with both the top batsmen, Kohli and Pujara back in the hutch. 

This morning, England will hope to skittle the remaining Indian batsmen and to have a lead of more than a hundred. We shall see.

It seems more than possible, that with India having to bat last on a wearing wicket, a target of 350 would surely be unachievable!

Will the better England batsmen let their bowlers down yet again? 

We shall have a much better idea of that after day three.