London, Aug 18: A bout of rain during the lunch break, followed by intermittent showers through the day, brought about a premature end to the first day’s play of the fourth and final Test match between England and India here at the Kennington Oval. Heading into the lunch break, the England openers had managed to take their side to a breezy 75 for the loss of no wicket.

At the start of the day, Andrew Strauss won the toss for the second time in this series and opted to bat first. With James Anderson having been declared fit after a suspected thigh niggle, England played an unchanged side from the Edgbaston Test. India, meanwhile, opted to play RP Singh instead of Praveen Kumar who was ruled out with an ankle injury.

England negotiated the first session with relative ease, milking the Indian pacers for runs. The only exciting moment in the morning session for the visitors came when an Ishant Sharma bouncer hit Andrew Strauss on the helmet, forcing the England captain to ask for a replacement.

That delivery aside, the England openers looked far from troubled in the first couple of hours of the day and match.

Brief scores: England 1st innings 75/0in 26.0 overs(Andrew Strauss 38*, Alastair Cook 34*)