An impressive Indian fightback on day three of the fourth Test in Ranchi has diminished England's chances of winning the series.
India turned the match around with determined lower-order resistance and high-quality spin bowling. Starting Sunday 134 runs behind with only three first-innings wickets remaining, the hosts finished 40-0 chasing 192 to secure an insurmountable 3-1 lead.
Dhruv Jurel's 90 was instrumental in taking them to 307. The wicketkeeper was dropped on 59 by Ollie Robinson and then added 76 with Kuldeep Yadav and another 40 with number 10 Akash Deep.
Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir took 5-119, becoming the second-youngest England bowler to claim a five-wicket haul in Test cricket at the age of 20 years and 135 days.
England's lead was only 46, and every run was crucial as India's spinners produced tricks from the surface on a riveting and tense afternoon.
Zak Crawley's attractive 60 and Jonny Bairstow's counter-punching 30 were invaluable. England's highest scorer was only 17, with Ravichandran Ashwin taking a magnificent 5-51 and Kuldeep being unerring in his 4-22.
India had 25 minutes to bat before the close and made good use of them, scoring at a rate of five runs per over. Captain Rohit Sharma scored 24 and Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 16.
England must stage an instant rally on the fourth morning to keep the series alive.
Serials at stake after Super Sunday
It was a captivating day of Test cricket, in line with the expectations for the game in this country: a hard-fought first innings followed by a thrilling conclusion as the spinners wreaked havoc in the second.
Despite the impressive bowling of England's Bashir and Tom Hartley, India's slow trio were able to extract a great deal from the surface.
The largest and most boisterous crowd of the Test so far was thrilled by every ball.
There is an argument to be made that England were not aggressive enough. Ben Duckett, Ben Stokes, and Bairstow were all dismissed in a tame manner. However, these were the most difficult batting conditions of the tour.
England's run-rate of 2.69 was their slowest since Stokes became captain. India's spinners bowled all but three of the 53.5 overs in England's second innings, taking advantage of the sharp turn and untrustworthy bounce.
England began the match with Joe Root's spin and Hartley's pace, but Hartley struggled with his line and Rohit clipped him to the boundary four times.
India is expected to win the series on Monday, but England hopes to use the pitch to turn the fifth Test in Dharamsala into a decider.
England was dismissed
England could have sealed the match with a flying start. However, Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared the new ball, indicating the ordeal that lay ahead.
Duckett prodded Ashwin to short leg, and Ollie Pope was completely befuddled by a carrom ball, resulting in a golden duck. Despite facing only three deliveries in the process, Pope has bagged a pair in this match.
Crawley fought back with style, peppering the extra-cover boundary. He added 46 runs with Root, who was disappointed to be given out leg before wicket while playing across Ashwin, and another 45 runs with Bairstow.
Crawley, however, was bowled trying to force Kuldeep against the spin. This triggered a collapse of five wickets for 23 runs. Stokes was dismissed after playing onto his pad, Hartley was caught at mid-on while attempting a big shot, and Robinson's poor day continued when he was given out leg before wicket for a duck, all to Kuldeep.
In between, Bairstow gently patted Jadeja to short cover from the first ball after tea, which meant that England lost their last proper weapon capable of pressurising the relentless India bowling.
Ben Foakes and Bashir batted together for more than 12 overs and added just 12 runs to the total. Foakes survived 75 balls for his 17 before chipping his 76th delivery back to Ashwin. Jurel's reaction catch of a James Anderson reverse sweep sealed his first five-wicket haul of the series.
Jurel dives in
If India completes the turnaround, they owe much to Jurel. The 23-year-old played only his second Test and possibly only held a place behind the stumps until Rishabh Pant returned to fitness.
India could have surrendered a huge lead at 177-7 on Saturday. Jurel and Kuldeep battled their way to 219-7 overnight. Jurel resumed on 30 on Sunday.
The early conditions were benign, and Robinson struggled to bite again. The eighth-wicket pair added 34 runs before Anderson got Kuldeep to chop on for 28.
England contained the scoring well, conceding only two boundaries in the first hour. However, the life given to Jurel could prove to be match-defining. Robinson at mid-wicket should have held the clip off the toes at Bashir at head-height - India was still 87 behind at the time.
Jurel farmed the strike with Deep and played big shots when given the chance - twice hitting Bashir for six. Deep also hit a six, before Bashir bowled a delivery that hit the pads to complete his first five-wicket haul in professional cricket.
Jurel was close to scoring a century, hitting Hartley over the leg-side boundary, but was bowled by the same bowler 10 runs short of reaching the milestone.