India negotiated an awkward first morning of the final test against England at the Oval relatively smoothly on Thursday, reaching 72-2 at lunch as the hosts, leading the series 2-1, failed to take full advantage of overcast conditions ideal for their all-seam attack.

Both England and India are set to field new-look teams when the decisive fifth and final Test of an enthralling, gruelling, and often spiky series gets underway at the Oval

England captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the fifth and deciding Test against India with a shoulder injury in a devastating blow for the home side.