England won the toss and elected to bat at the Oval on a well prepared pitch. There were some in press circles that speculated it may be too well prepared and wasn't conducive to good test cricket.
So it proved as England racked up a huge score of 601 for 6 declared. Walter Hammond hit an unbeaten 241 with 146 from Len Hutton as they shared a stand of 148 for the 2nd wicket. Indias bowlers toiled with Bumrah and Jadeja taking 2 wickets apiece.
England took 2 quick wickets as Sunil Gavaskar failed once again and was bounced out by Fred Trueman and then Syd Barnes was bowled by Virender Sehwag. India were in a spot of trouble when Rahul Dravid came to the crease. He batted wonderfully however and shared a partnership of 203 with Virat Kohli, who hit 118. Dravid was unbeaten on 190 as India declared on 484 for 6 at the end of day 4.
Overcast conditions made for some more bowler friendly conditions on Day 5 and England were 3 down when they declared again near tea. They set India 212 in around 50 overs, but the visitors never really went for them. Sehwag and Dravid fell to Derek Underwood before Gavaskar and Tendulkar saw out the remaining time.
The captains agreed to end the match as a draw and while it was the correct result, India probably edged bragging rights.
Man of the match was another difficult decision. Hammond hit 281 unbeaten runs in the match, but the award went to 'The Wall' Rahul Dravid.
India head home now and will take on the West Indies in Kanpur. England are off to New Zealand where the 2 will meet at Christchurch.
England 1st Innings 601-6 (163 Ov)
WR Hammond 241*, L Hutton 146, APE Knott 72*, JJ Bumrah 2-111, RA Jadeja 2-123
India 1st Innings 484-6 (171 Ov)
R Dravid 190*, V Kohli 118, MS Dhoni 70, FS Trueman 3-110, DL Underwood 2-99
England 2nd Innings 94-3 (33 Ov)
WR Hammond 40*, DCS Compton 39, Kapil Dev 2-39
India 2nd Innings 34-2 (23 Ov)
DL Underwood 2-11
Match Drawn
Man of the Match: R Dravid
Rahul Dravid batted for 11 1/2 hours, faced 504 balls and hit just 12 fours in his impenetrable innings of 190 not out
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