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05:31
India 191 and 270 for 3 (Rohit 127, Pujara 61) lead England 290 by 171 runs
It was worth the wait. Rohit Sharma‘s first Test hundred away from home took India into a dominant position against England at The Oval and has left them well-placed to go 2-1 up in the series.
Rohit shared partnerships of 83 and 153 for the first and second wicket with KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara, pressing on through the third morning after seeing out 16 overs on the second evening. He batted within himself for most of the day in gloomy, overcast conditions but moved from 94 to his hundred by swinging Moeen Ali for six over long-on.
He was eventually dismissed in bizarre fashion, heaving a pull straight to long leg when Ollie Robinson dug the second new ball into the pitch, and when Robinson had Pujara caught in the slips via an inside edge into his back thigh five balls later, England were back in the game. But Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja – retaining his spot at No. 5 – battled through before bad light brought an early close shortly before 5.45pm local time.
Rohit rode his luck at times, offering two chances to Rory Burns at second slip, but neither was taken. The first came on the second evening when he had made only six: he edged James Anderson into the cordon, but Burns appeared not to pick the ball up against the backdrop of the crowd and only realised it had come in his direction once it had brushed his foot on its way to the boundary.
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Rohit Sharma deposited one in the stands at long-on to get to his century © Getty Images
The second came on 31, when Ollie Robinson had him poking defensively at a wide-ish ball on a good length. Third slip had been moved into the covers shortly before, meaning Burns had to fling himself to his right; he could only get a fingertip to it, pushing it down towards third man.
Anderson made the breakthrough shortly after Burns’ second drop, inducing an outside edge from Rahul. Rahul had started brightly, driving Chris Woakes down the ground for four and pulling him for six, but England bowled dry to stem the flow of runs. Anderson found a hint of movement away off the seam as Rahul came forward to defend; the on-field decision was not out, but the DRS showed a healthy outside edge.
Full report to follow
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
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