Double blow stuns England

Resuming at the Oval on 24 for one needing a further 441 just to avoid the follow-on, England looked to have won the morning session with Essex opener Alastair Cook registering his first half-century of the series to guide his side to a promising 119 for two.

But with just two overs remaining before lunch, England lost Cook and captain Michael Vaughan in quick succession to leave them struggling on 124 for four at the interval - still trailing by a daunting 540 runs.

Cook, who had averaged just 29.75 in the previous two Tests, was given two reprieves to help him score 61 - his highest score for England since scoring a second-innings century against West Indies at Old Trafford two months ago.

Cook had added only one run to his overnight 12 when he was given his first reprieve in the fourth over of the day from seamer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, deflecting the ball straight to Dinesh Karthik, who failed to hold the chest-high chance.

He had progressed to 28 when he escaped for the second time, this time deflecting leg-spinner Anil Kumble down the leg-side and Sourav Ganguly spilled the chance at leg slip.

While Cook could consider himself fortunate to survive, he was given superb support from the other end by nightwatchman James Anderson, who battled for 72 minutes at the crease before India finally removed him.

Anderson hit three fours in his 16, his highest Test score for four years, and helped Cook add 66 crucial runs before falling in the 12th over of the morning, with left-arm seamer Rudra Pratap Singh winning an lbw decision.

Kumble finally ended Cook's stay at the crease when the left-hander attempted to clip off his legs but got a leading edge to RP Singh at mid-off.

Kumble strengthened India's advantage even further in the final over by outwitting skipper Vaughan with the googly, who gave a simple return catch off the inside edge.