Rahul 199 leads India Strong Response

KL Rahul 199 made the second-highest score by an India opener against England.

Chennai: Lokesh Rahul struck a brilliant 199 to make England toil on day three of the fifth and final Test in Chennai on Sunday.

Karun Nair on 71 and Murali Vijay on 17 were at the crease as the hosts still trail England by 86 in the first innings.

The opener helped India to 391-4, 86 behind, but became the ninth man to be out one run short of 200 in a Test when he lobbed Adil Rashid to point.

He shared partnerships of 152 with Parthiv Patel (71) and 161 with Karun Nair, who remains on 71.

England worked hard on a docile pitch but are set to be under pressure for the rest of the match.

The hosts, who resumed the day on 60 without loss, reached 391 for four at stump, still 86 runs behind, with Vijay on 17 and Karun Nair on 71 at the crease.

England's Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad worked hard on a benign track to send Cheteshwar Pujara (16) and skipper Virat Kohli (15) back to the pavilion.

It was the first time in the series that Kohli, who leads the batting chart with 655 runs, had been out for less than 40. He chipped a drive to extra cover off Broad.

Rahul, who recorded his fourth Test century in just his 12th match, then toned down his aggressive play to take India's reply further in partnership with Nair.

His 311-ball has included sixteen fours and three sixes, and the stand is worth 161 with Nair

Overnight batsmen Parthiv Patel and Rahul made England's bowlers toil earlier in the day with a 152-run opening stand, before Moeen Ali's off-spin prised out Patel -- the only wicket of the morning session.

India, who have already won the series 3-0, are likely to get up to or beyond England's score on Monday, and then look to bowl out the tourists on the fifth day.

Though the surface looks set to remain good for batting, India's skilful spinners will prey on an England side prone to collapses and which lost the fourth Test by an innings despite making 400 when they batted first.

Brief scores
England - 477 (Ali 146, Root 88, Dawson 66*, Rashid 60, Jadeja 3-106)
India - 391 for 4 (Rahul 199, Nair 71*, Patel 71)
Status - India trail by 86 runs