India negotiated an awkward first morning of the final test against England at the Oval relatively smoothly on Thursday, reaching 72-2 at lunch as the hosts, leading the series 2-1, failed to take full advantage of overcast conditions ideal for their all-seam attack.

England’s bowlers, without injured captain Ben Stokes or rested paceman Jofra Archer, ran in hard enough and extracted some good bounce from what has been a very batter-friendly wicket this season, but generally lacked a cutting edge.

Recalled Gus Atkinson was England’s liveliest bowler and he struck in the fifth over as Yashasvi Jaiswal was beaten by a ball that cut back sharply and thudded into his pad.

It was given not out but Ollie Pope, in as captain in place of Stokes and who had a remarkable 14 unsuccessful reviews when leading the team last year, finally got one right as DRS overturned the decision to dismiss the opener for two.

KL Rahul, with over 500 runs to his name from the first four matches, looked relatively untroubled before trying to cut a ball from Chris Woakes that was too close to his body and succeeded only in playing on to depart for 14.

At 38-2, England and a packed Oval crowd sensed an opportunity but, with some weak sunshine replacing the dark clouds, things started to look more comfortable for the tourists, who need a victory to square the series.

India's number three Sai Sudharsan was very watchful in the first hour but started to time the ball nicely and was unbeaten on 25. Captain Shubman Gill, averaging over 90 for the series and probably key to India’s hopes, was not out on 15 when the players went off for an early lunch after a shower arrived.