Close England 273 and 239 for 4 (Hussain 90*, Stewart 40*) trail India 628 for 8 dec by 116 runs
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Drip by drip, hour by hour, India moved closer to their first win in England for 16 years on the fourth day at Headingley. But England made them sweat, particularly in a final, wicketless session in which Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart added 91 for the fifth wicket during 39 overs of bloody-minded resistance.

At the close England were 239 for 4, still 116 runs away from making India bat again. For them, the relevant get-out-of-jail precedent is Johannesburg 1995-96. Then England closed the fourth day four wickets down, and with their captain on 82 not out. Here Hussain, ever the bad-wicket specialist, scrapped his way to within ten runs of his 12th century, and if England are to draw he will have to go close to repeating Mike Atherton's famous vigil.

The difference here is that a potentially tight time/runs equation means that England would not have to bat all day to save the match. But with the second new ball only four overs old, India remain very strong favourites.

England had resumed on 264 for 9 in their first innings, and added nine runs before Dave Orchard triggered Matthew Hoggard, leaving Stewart high and dry on 78. Sourav Ganguly invited England to follow on the small matter of 355 runs behind, and Ajit Agarkar's new-ball spell - some balls grubbed, others spat as if arrowed down by Curtly Ambrose - made clear the enormity of the task ahead. Increasingly you felt a wicket was in the post, and the delivery duly came when Agarkar jagged one back a long way to pin Michael Vaughan lbw for 15 (28 for 1).

Between lunch and tea, England would have hoped to lose one wicket at the most. Instead India claimed three, with Robert Key the first to go. He played some handsome strokes in a gutsy 34, but was always struggling against Anil Kumble, and it came as no great surprise when he was flummoxed by the flipper. Stuck on the crease when he should have been forward, Key was plumb lbw as the ball skidded on (76 for 2).

After that, Mark Butcher and Hussain looked in the mood to mix it. Both played some feisty strokes and their partnership was shaping up nicely when Butcher was hoodwinked by Sanjay Bangar. He bowled a couple of inswingers to the left-hander and then tossed an outswinger wider outside off stump. Butcher chased it and edged his attempted drive straight to Rahul Dravid at first slip. It was only Bangar's second Test wicket, and Butcher was gone for 42 (116 for 3).

Hussain continued to bristle, and thwacked one huge six over mid-on off Harbhajan Singh. But then John Crawley (12) lamely scooped a delivery from Bangar that stopped on him straight to Virender Sehwag in the covers, who grabbed it at the second attempt, and England were in real trouble at 148 for 4. It could have been worse for England: off the last ball before tea, Hussain was put down by Parthiv Patel as he gloved a brute of a delivery from Kumble.

But after the interval Hussain and Stewart dug in. Hussain's was an innings of many moods. At one point he made only two runs in an hour as Zaheer Khan worked him over from around the wicket, but then cut loose to thrash five boundaries in ten deliveries. He survived a couple of very good shouts too - for caught-behind off Zaheer on 63, and for lbw as he missed a sweep at Kumble on 86.

At the other end Stewart, demonstrating that an old dog can learn new tricks, was as comfortable as he has ever been against the spin of Harbhajan and Kumble, his hard hands seemingly a thing of the past. He has now scored 118 runs in the match without being dismissed, and been on the pitch for over 1000 minutes. Not bad for a 39-year-old.

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