England vs India: '35 runs or four wickets

What is it about this place?

Finales. The Oval.

Don Bradman walking off for a duck, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh arm in arm, Stuart Broad denying Australia one last time.

The famous old ground has delivered again. Realistically, England have no right to be in with a shot of yet another successful run chase, but here we are.

Harry Brook and Joe Root. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna. Kumar Dharmasena and Ahsan Raza. Rain and bad light. 35 runs and four wickets. A long night staring into the soul.

Monday morning will not be as raucous as Sunday evening, but the stakes will not be diminished by having to return at the beginning of the working week.

For England, there are 35 runs standing between them and the biggest series win of the Bazball era.

If they pull it off, it will be the second highest successful chase in their history and will break a 123-year-old record for the best chase by any team on this ground.

They would do it with Ben Stokes not in the team and Chris Woakes absent for most of the match. England's two best all-rounders of the past 10 years have only two working shoulders between them.

England have a patched up pace attack that is missing Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse and Mark Wood. Their first-choice spinner is injured. Jacob Bethell has been a part-time cricketer for the past two months and batted like it.

England dropped six catches in the India second innings and gave away 38 runs in extras in their first – how important they look now.

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