IND vs ENG: Rain to play spoilsport on Day 5 and hand England the series? London weather report provides massive update

The fifth and final day of the Oval Test will commence with England standing 35 runs behind the target of 374 set by India. The visitors still need to clinch the remaining four wickets to win the match, making the hosts the favourites to emerge victorious. The match could have very well concluded on the fourth day itself if the match officials didn't decide to call stumps early. The decision raied a lot of questions and even led to the officials facing heat from experts.

As the action moves to the fifth day, all eyes will once again be on the weather. The weather in London hasn't been great during the first four days with gloomy skies and rain leading to the play getting stopped on multiple occasions. It will be quite unfortunate for India if rain ends up washing out Day 5 as England will then go on to win the series without even triumphing in the final match.

No rain expected in first few hours

However, according to BBC Weather, no rain is expected during the first few hours of play, meaning that England will have a big chance to finish off the match once and for all. But, there is a slim 19% chance of rain during noon in London and the Men in Blue will be hoping that overcast conditions will arrive as soon as they can. There is a big chance of rain during 2PM local time, however it is likely that the match will be concluded before the afternoon session begins.  

Meanwhile, Joe Root and Harry Brook's centuries on the fourth day saw England get incredibly close to the target. The duo formed a massive partnership of 195 runs and smashed Indian bowlers all around the stadium, who had no answer to their explosive batting. Just when it looked like the Three Lions would wrap up the match on Day 4 itself, Akash Deep dismissed Brook for 111 runs.

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Then, Prasidh Krishna would get the wickets of Jacob Bethell and Joe Root in quick succession to put the hosts under pressure during the final session of the day. However, the umpires soon took players off the field due to bad light and the day never resumed after that. The action will now move forward to the fifth day where the duo of Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton will resume England's batting against the Indian bowling attack.