England aim to maintain proud run

The Oval, 9-13 August 2007
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606 debate | Mobile scorecards THIRD NPOWER TEST, The Oval: England v India
Match starts Thursday at 1100 BST

England will be looking to preserve their long unbeaten record in Test series at home when the final match against India starts on Thursday.

The home side, who trail 1-0 after defeat at Trent Bridge, last lost a series on home soil in the 2001 Ashes.

India need only a draw to clinch their first series win in England since 1986.

"It's a real challenge. We're a relatively new side and if we're going to progress have to come through these games," captain Michael Vaughan said.

"The two games have been fascinating viewing, played in a really hard-fought manner, with two good bowling attacks bowling in the right areas and swinging the ball.

"It has made batting difficult at times and you know you're in a contest when you're out in the middle - that's what Test match cricket is all about."

At Trent Bridge, the competitive nature of the series spilled over during several unsavoury incidents.

Zaheer Khan angrily waved his bat at Kevin Pietersen after accusing the England fielders of throwing jelly beans at him, while Sree Santh bowled a beamer at Pietersen and shoulder-barged Vaughan.

Match referee Ranjan Madugalle has spoken to both captains and the England skipper says things should be calmer this time - although he does not want the intensity to drop.

"We realise there might have been a couple of incidents which might have gone near to stepping over the line," Vaughan admitted. "We don't want that to happen here but we want to play in a hard manner.

"You don't want to have swearing but gamesmanship and the odd word to the batsman is part and parcel of the game.

"I want to see the players continue to play with passion and intensity because when you play in that kind of manner you usually produce good performances."

England's batsmen had problems coming to terms with the exaggerated swing movement Zaheer and RP Singh found in helpful conditions in Nottingham.

The hosts have been working on solutions but are aware of the challenge posed by the left-armers.

"It's very hard to go into the nets and simulate what you're getting out in the middle when it's swinging as much as that," Vaughan added.

"The best you can do is line up the bowling machine and get it hooping as much as you can and get your alignment and angles right.

"Zaheer has improved since the last time he was here. He's swinging it both ways and it makes it very difficult but you certainly can score runs against him."

India skipper Rahul Dravid is reluctant to dwell on the events of the previous game.

"I think we've all moved on. It's time to forget and look forward to a good Test," he said.

"In all this we tend to forget there's some very good cricket being played. Some people have put in very good performances on both teams and that's been forgotten."

Dravid is happier to reflect on the achievements of his young seamers, and believes there is more to come from them if they are managed correctly.

"These guys are young and some of them have not even played a lot of first-class cricket," he explained.

"RP Singh and Sree are constantly learning and using that experience to good effect but we know they have a long way to go.

"If we want to do well abroad consistently we need a good fast bowling unit and just have to manage it well."

England (from): Vaughan (capt), Cook, Strauss, Pietersen, Collingwood, Bell, Prior (wkt), Sidebottom, Anderson, Panesar, Tremlett, Broad.

India (from): Dravid (capt), Karthik, Jaffer, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, Dhoni (wkt), Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Santh, RP Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Bose.