Gus Atkinson capped a five-wicket haul as the seam bowlers dominated on day two of the fifth Test between England and India.
India reached stumps on Friday on 72-2 in their second innings, 52 runs ahead of England after they were bowled out for 247 earlier on at The Oval.
The tourists added just 20 runs to their overnight score after Atkinson (5-33) took three early wickets to complete his five-for, while Josh Tongue (3-57) dismissed Karun Nair (57) to limit India’s first innings to 224.
England started strongly with the bat as Ben Duckett (43) and Zak Crawley (64) put on an opening partnership of 92, both scoring at a strike rate over 100.
But Mohammed Siraj (4-86) and Prasidh Krishna (4-62) then ripped through the England batting lineup, while there were some heated interactions with Joe Root, who was dismissed for 29.
With Harry Brook (53) propelling England towards 247 and a first-innings lead, Tongue (1-25) and Atkinson (1-26) struck again in the final session, removing KL Rahul (seven) and Sai Sudharsan (11) respectively.
Yashasvi Jaiswal steadied the ship with a fine, unbeaten 51, and he will start day three at the crease along with nightwatchman Akash Deep (four not out).
Data Debrief: Atkinson leads in Stokes' and Woakes' absence
There were doubts about England’s bowling attack when Chris Woakes was ruled out for the remainder of the match after injuring his shoulder on day one.
Atkinson showed there was nothing to worry about, though, registering his fourth five-for in Test cricket and his first on his home ground.
He is only the second bowler in history, after George Lohmann, to have taken 60 Test wickets while recording a strike-rate below 35.
