Rain Thwarts Confident England At The Oval

Rain Thwarts Confident England At The Oval

Andrew Strauss made 38 not out on the opening day at The Oval...

©Action Images / Andrew Boyers Livepic

Rain Thwarts Confident England At The Oval

...but England's bright start gave way to a more gloomy picture for both sides as the rain closed in

©Action Images / Andrew Boyers Livepic

England 75-0 v India
Fourth Test, The Kia Oval, day one
Scorecard

England reached 75 without loss in the only session of play against India on a rain-affected opening day of the fourth and final Test at the Kia Oval.

After England advanced smoothly with openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook picking up from where they had left off at Edgbaston, rain set in during the lunch interval and no further play was possible.

Cook was unbeaten on 34 and Strauss survived a nasty blow from an Ishant Sharma bouncer which ripped a piece of his helmet off to make 38 in 74 balls.

India made one change to their side with left-arm seamer RP Singh making a return to Test cricket at the expense of Praveen Kumar, who is struggling with an ankle injury he picked up during the third Test.

Singh made no great impression with the ball, however, as India bowled poorly allowing the two left-handers to keep the runs flowing, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth conceding 26 runs in six overs.

Srauss led the way with five fours with Cook one boundary behind but looking as assured at the crease as he had during his marathon innings of 294 at Edgbaston.

England, who lead the series 3-0 and have taken over India's position atop the ICC Test rankings, named an unchanged side from that which won by an innings and 242 runs last time out.

© Cricket World 2011