LONDON: England’s Alastair Cook fell short of a dream farewell century as India’s bowlers roared back to leave the hosts reeling on 198-7 at stumps on day one of the fifth and final Test here at The Oval on Friday.

With England having already wrapped up the series with victory in Southampton last week, all eyes were on their record Test run scorer Cook’s bid to end his international career just how he began it 12 years ago -- with a century.

Displaying trademark fortitude he grafted his way to within 29 runs of three figures as the hosts reached 133-1 after tea, having won the toss on a day seemingly made for batting.

But when the 33-year-old played on to fall for 71 it sparked an all-too-familiar England collapse with skipper Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran failing to trouble the scorers.

Moeen Ali rode his luck to score a 167-ball 50 but by the close India were in the ascendancy with England relying on Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid to repair the damage.

Ishant Sharma, who had Cook dropped on 37, was the pick of the Indian attack with figures of three for 28 while recalled spinner Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah took two apiece.

Earlier, Cook chiselled out an unbeaten half-century as the hosts reached 123-1 at tea.

The 33-year-old, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Monday saying he had “nothing left in the tank”, showed why he is his country’s leading Test run scorer with a gritty 66 not out from 177 balls. Moeen Ali was with him (23).

All eyes were on Cook as he began his 161st and final Test, eager to end a magnificent 12-year career with a flourish.

He received a thunderous ovation from the packed stands as he walked on to a sunlit pitch through an Indian guard of honour to open the batting after England won the toss.

The crowd, many wearing chef hats in his honour, rose again midway through the afternoon session when Cook pushed Mohammed Shami for two runs to reach his 57th Test half-century — the first by an opener in a series in which ball has dominated bat.

After a run of low scores the cricketing Gods shone on Cook. He was dropped on 37 but on a day of old-fashioned Test combat with precious few runs being gifted, the resilience and calm that have taken him to sixth on the all-time list of Test run scorers shone through.

After an emotional entrance there was relief all round as Cook got off the mark by pushing Ishant Sharma through the covers for three, taking him past 1,000 Test runs at the Oval.

Cook struck successive boundaries off Bumrah in the day’s ninth over, the first cut hard through square and the second a majestic pull off a shortish delivery.

But mainly it was a day for quiet accumulation and steadfastness against a luckless Indian attack.

The spotlight on Cook disguised the fact that Keaton Jennings, his fellow opener, is battling to nail down his place as England plan a future without a man who began the day with 12,254 runs to his credit.

Jennings fell into a trap having reached 23 though, nudging a delivery from spinner Ravindra Jadeja straight into the hands of KL Rahul at leg slip. The 60 opening stand was the highest by either side in the series but that was scant consolation for Jennings who looked livid at his soft dismissal.

England were 68-1 at lunch but led a charmed life after it as Bumrah, Sharma and Shami repeatedly beat the bat.

Cook was squared up by Sharma but Ajinkya Rahane spilled a low catch then Moeen, batting at three so skipper Joe Root can drop to four, swiped at Bumrah and the ball flew to Virat Kohli at third slip but he could not cling on.

Moeen then survived a review having shouldered arms to a Bumrah delivery that nipped back to clip the top of his pad.

England brought the 100 up in 273 balls.

Scoreboard

England (1st Innings):

A. Cook b Bumrah 71 K. Jennings c Lokesh Rahul b Jadeja 23 M. Ali c Pant b Sharma 50 J. Root lbw Bumrah 0 J. Bairstow c Pant b Sharma 0 B. Stokes lbw Jadeja 11 J. Buttler not out 11 S. Curran c Pant b Sharma 0 A. Rashid not out 4

EXTRAS (B-25, LB-3) 28

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 90 overs) 198 FALL OF WKTS: 1-60, 2-13, 3-133, 4-134, 5-171, 6-177, 7-181 BOWLING: Bumrah 21-9-41-2; Sharma 22-10-28-3; Vihari 1-0-1-0; Shami 22-7-43-0; Jadeja 24-0-57-2 UMPIRES: Joel Wilson, Handunnettige Dharmasena THIRD UMPIRE: Bruce Oxenford MATCH REFEREE: Andrew Pycroft

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2018