England Strong Before Rain Stops Play

England eased to 75-0 on the first day of the final Test against India, but rain stopped play at the Oval after lunch.

After winning the toss and opting to bat, captain Andrew Strauss and fellow opener Alastair Cook appeared to have few problems in the first session.

Strauss was 38 not out and Alastair Cook on 34 at lunch - but the clouds closed in and torrential rain hit south London preventing any further play.

Fans at The Oval were left disappointed after only 26 of the day's scheduled 90 overs were bowled.

Before the bad weather, England's most concerning moment of the morning came when Strauss, on 24, bailed out of a pull shot against an Ishant Sharma bouncer and saw the ball crash into his helmet, breaking a piece of the peak.

But, after calling for a replacement helmet, Strauss was not troubled again by a largely ineffectual India attack.

India, beset by injuries, suffered another when medium-pacer Praveen Kumar, one of their few successes this series, was ruled out before the toss.

It had been thought Kumar's absence was due to a thumb injury while batting in the third Test.

But an India statement, issued only at tea, said Kumar had been ruled out with a left ankle injury sustained while bowling as England piled up a mammoth 710 for seven declared at Edgbaston.

Kumar was replaced by Rudra Pratap Singh, playing his first Test in more than three years and himself only on tour as an injury call-up for fellow left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan, who broke down in the series opener at Lord's.

Play was abandoned for the day at 1600GMT, but as England needed fewer than four days to win both the second and third Tests, they still have every chance of completing a clean sweep.