When England were comfortably placed at 317/4 at Tea on Sunday, it seemed they would cruise to an easy win in the final Test at The Oval and clinch the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

But an inspired spell of bowling from Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna thereafter reduced England to 337/6 all of a sudden in the fourth day's final session, which included the departure of centurion Joe Root.

The pressure was right back on England with a struggling Jamie Smith and tailender Jamie Overton at the crease, till rain intervened and forced early stumps when the hosts were 339/6.

After several twists and turns, with rain dragging the Test to its final day, India need four wickets to square the series 2-2, while England are 35 away from a 3-1 series win.

With Chris Woakes nursing an injured left shoulder and able to bat only after No.11 Josh Tongue, the pressure is more on the Englishmen than on the Indians. There's every possibility of England taking the heavy roller so that the pitch, still having some spice on it, eases a little. But the Indian quicks will also be coming out fresher on Monday for one final crack to deny England a series win.

In all fairness, despite the fatigue of what has been a gruelling tour, Siraj and Prasidh gave their all to keep India's victory hopes alive. Maybe the brief spell of rain on the stroke of Tea made the surface a tad livelier, but full marks had to be given to Siraj and Prasidh for being relentless with the pressure they had put on the England batters.

That pressure got onto Root as well, as Siraj consistently darted the ball back into him in an attempt to get him out LBW. That didn’t happen, but soon after, Prasidh bowled one that moved just a wee bit away and induced a rare false shot from Root with keeper Dhruv Jurel pouching a fine catch.

As most England batters have been doing since the Bazball era, Root's fellow centurion Harry Brook gave India some relief with his completely unnecessary stroke in the 63rd over of England's second innings. Even after smashing Akash Deep for two boundaries in that over, which had reduced the runs required to just 73 for England, Brook stepped down the track and mis-hit one — losing his bat in the process — to perish near the mid-off region.

Harry Brook of England celebrates scoring his 100 with Joe Root during day four of the Fifth Test Match between England and India at The Kia Oval.

If that wasn’t enough, Jacob Bethell, with England needing only 42 to win, also stepped down the track needlessly, only to lose his middle-stump and gift a wicket to Prasidh a little after Tea. India were once again given a helping hand to sneak their way back into the contest.

With Root batting wonderfully at the other end, that kind of shot was simply not on.

However, if not for Siraj's gross error earlier on Sunday morning when Brook had scored just 19, India may well have had a great chance of sealing the game on the penultimate day itself. Prasidh had his hands outstretched, thinking Siraj had completed a regulation catch at the deep square-leg region.

But to Prasidh as well as his teammates' agony, Siraj, just inches away from the boundary and with the ball in his hands, stepped on the boundary marker. What should have been Prasidh’s second scalp of the morning session fetched Brook and England a maximum.

Thereafter, against a tiring bowling unit, Brook played his typically aggressive game with a solid Root at the other end as the game was gradually drifting from India’s control.

To speak of India’s overall bowling effort, it certainly could have been better, especially that of Akash, who was expected to gain in confidence after his gritty 66 with the bat on Saturday. But he looked a tad flatter, especially in the latter stages of the post-Lunch session. And Brook gleefully exploited that.

The game-defining 195-run stand between Root and the flamboyant Brook set the game up for England, till two horrible shots invited India back into the match.

Irrespective of the result, India would do well to review some of their decisions for future reference. Should they have had a fourth seamer given the conditions? Did captain Shubman Gill err in not bringing in his spinners earlier into the attack?