England's hopes of salvaging anything less than defeat in the third Test against India faded with the loss of two key wickets on the fourth day. Resuming their first innings on 264 for nine still 165 adrift of saving the follow-on, they failed to gain ground after lasting only four overs and 13 minutes before last man Matthew Hoggard fell to give Anil Kumble his third wicket.
Their shaky start continued with in-form Michael Vaughan making a rare failure, given leg before to Ajit Agarkar in the 10th over to leave England facing the prospect of defeat inside four days. With another 13 overs until the interval and inexperienced opener Robert Key at the crease, England's hopes of surviving until the interval seemed slim but instead the Kent batsman forged a crucial 48-run second-wicket partnership with Mark Butcher.
This ended 23 overs after lunch when Key, who had progressed to a Test-best score of 34, paid the price for remaining in his crease and was trapped leg before to Kumble. Butcher lasted a further 13 overs, twice having narrow escapes on 17 and 37 when he drove just wide or short of fielders, but his luck ran out when he attempted to push Sanjay Bangar through the covers and edged to Rahul Dravid at second slip for 42. England then struggled on 116 for three as new batsman John Crawley joined captain Nasser Hussain at the crease.
Filed by Sinéad Gleeson
