India 664 & 180-6 dec, England 345 & 56-0: Dravid puts block on England's faint hopes of salvaging series

For 35 minutes of an otherwise mundane day it appeared as though England had an outside chance of producing something very, very special. In a high-quality spell of fast bowling James Anderson trapped Wasim Jaffer lbw and knocked Sachin Tendulkar's middle and leg stumps out of the ground and a beauty from Chris Tremlett forced Dinesh Karthik to edge to slip.

The wickets reduced India to 11 for 3, giving them a lead of 330. Rahul Dravid's side have the reputation of choking with the winning line in sight, and just for a moment Michael Vaughan's side, along with the thousands of England fans in a capacity crowd, dreamt of avoiding a first home series defeat in six years. If England had somehow bowled India out for around 80 it would have left them with four sessions to chase down 400 and pull off one of the most remarkable victories in the history of Test cricket.

Related articles

• Broad 'full of confidence' after firing Foxes to dramatic win
• Dravid sets out to build monument to India's three graces
• Chandu Borde: 'Our bowlers were tired and we wanted them fresh again'
• Panesar left to fight lonely battle on the home front
• Search the news archive for more stories

But it was not to be. Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, two of India's oldest and wisest heads, ended these aspirations in contrasting styles. Dravid, nicknamed "The Wall" because of his solid defence, played one of the most dogged innings of his career, scoring 12 runs in almost two and a half hours. Ganguly, however, batted beautifully on this excellent pitch, reaching 50 off the 53rd ball he faced. When Ganguly edged Paul Collingwood to Andrew Strauss at slip, India's lead was almost 400.

VVS Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni chipped in with useful contributions too before Dravid declared India's second innings closed on 180 for 6, a total that left England needing to score 500 to level the series. With the world record for a fourth-innings run chase in Test cricket being 418 – achieved by the West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2004 – the celebrations in Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta and Delhi can begin.

Alastair Cook and Strauss came through the final 20 overs of the day relatively comfortably as England reached 56 without loss, a score that leaves them needing 444 runs for victory today.

Any realistic chance England had of levelling the series had disappeared on Friday when India amassed 664 in their first innings, but there remains plenty for Vaughan's men to play for. Tour places for the three-Test series in Sri Lanka are still there to be claimed as are the lucrative central contracts offered by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

It therefore came as no surprise to see Anderson and Tremlett, two bowlers whose places on the winter tour are far from secure and who would love a central contract, run in hard and make life uncomfortable for the Indian batsmen. Ryan Sidebottom is in exactly the same position but a side strain prevented him from bowling. Strauss and Ian Bell, batsmen wanting to convince the ECB that they are worthy of another central contract, will be equally keen to impress today.

The six wickets that fell were shared evenly by Anderson, Tremlett and Paul Collingwood who, filling in for Sidebottom, bowled a tidy 10-over spell. Anderson struck first when Jaffer was given out lbw, leaving a ball that looked destined to pass over the stumps. The umpire, Ian Howell, gave the decision. It was not the first mistake he has made in the Test.

Tremlett was too good for Karthik while Tendulkar suffered the ignominy of watching two stumps being knocked out of the ground in his final Test innings in England. The bombardment he received in the first innings may not have directly got him out but it has affected his footwork. Tendulkar, with his weight on the back foot, waiting for a short ball, was late getting forward to a full one from Anderson. It was why he inside-edged it on to his stumps. The "Little Master" left to a standing ovation but he did not respond.

An expectant crowd found its voice but Dravid and Ganguly doused England's fire, as did a brief shower that sent the players off for an early lunch.

The fourth day began with Tremlett and Monty Panesar frustrating India for 25 minutes, adding 19 runs to the overnight score of 326 for 9 before Anil Kumble trapped England's left-arm spinner in front with a gentle leg-break. The dismissal brought an end to a disappointing innings for England on a faultless pitch in perfect conditions.

True, India's seamers, and in particular Zaheer Khan, had once again swung the ball consistently on Saturday, but too many batsmen were guilty of getting out to poor strokes. Cook, Vaughan, Kevin Pietersen and Bell all played inauspicious shots after batting for more than an hour and were caught, and with them went any hope England had of avoiding the follow-on – had it been enforced. Kumble lured Cook and Vaughan into chipping simple catches down the ground while Tendulkar tempted Pietersen to drive wildly at his first ball, edging to slip.

Matthew Prior was dismissed without scoring by Sree Sreesanth, a performance that will have done little to boost the wicketkeeper's flagging confidence. There was little he could do about the away swinger he edged to slip and the events of the past fortnight will have shown him how cruel Test cricket can be. Some of the criticism Prior has received has been a little harsh but his conduct behind the stumps has not won him many admirers.

India would have enforced the follow-on had they needed a victory to win the series, but Dravid opted to give his bowlers a rest and put the Test out of England's reach before trying to win it. The decision may not have been the most positive ever made, and the way in which Dravid subsequently batted suggested that he was more intent on avoiding defeat than winning, but his primary duty is to ensure that his side leave here as series victors.

England's fans vented their frustration by slow hand-clapping. But it was hard to have too much sympathy; this is the same crowd that cheered in the 2005 Ashes whenever the players left the field for bad light. As with England in 2005, India's objective was to avoid defeat.