The pitch is getting easier to bat on, according to PitchViz. It's rated as 3.9 out of 10 in terms of difficulty (the higher value, the more difficult). To put this into context, on day two the pitch rating was 4.5. The hardest aspect of batting is, as we have seen, the bounce inconsistency.

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The crowd starting to thin during a period of attrition - preferring the trappings of Manchester's bright lights to another 45 minutes or so of grind at Old Trafford.

Liam Dawson with a celebrappeal to one which hits Shubman Gill on the pad.

However, it's turned down by umpire Rod Ducker with the ball heading down leg and possibly with a bit of bat on it to boot.

Matthew Henry
BBC Sport journalist at Old Trafford

We've just had a pretty dismal attempt at a Mexican wave. This crowd is distracted.

Brydon Carse licks the top of his lip with his tongue as he ponders how to get a wicket, or perhaps life in general. England look a little weary here - you can see why India looked so down in the dumps this morning.

Shubman Gill and KL Rahul both work Carse round the corner for singles.

Sir Alastair Cook
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

The pitch has gone to sleep and it is very similar to what Lancashire first-class games have seen. Still a very good wicket to bat on and the ball occasionally does something but without that brute pace, it is a very comfortable wicket to bat on.

Dan (17:14) suggested Liam Dawson may be a solid operator but not one capable of being a matchwinner in the second innings. Well, his second-innings bowling average in first-class cricket does show an improvement from the first innings. In the first innings he averages 33.26 and the second innings 29.54. But there's not loads in it...

Another relatively unthreatening over from Dawson safely negotiated by KL Rahul and Shubman Gill.

Deep Dasgupta
Former India wicketkeeper

KL Rahul seems to be taking on the short ball, which is fine for England because you have five fielders on the leg side for that and a flying leg slip as well for the ramp.

Brydon Carse opts to bang a few in short against KL Rahul and Shubman Gill but he cannot get the required purchase out of the pitch to cause much alarm to two set batters.

Where's England's next wicket coming from then?

Andy Zaltzman
Test Match Special statistician

This was the second-slowest 50 for KL Rahul in terms of balls faced. He has 29 fifties to his name.

Liam Dawson wheels away after drinks. A single apiece off him for KL Rahul and Shubman Gill.

Ben Stokes turns to Brydon Carse for some inspiration as the flags on top of the pavilion at Old Trafford flutter in the breeze.

Matthew Henry
BBC Sport journalist at Old Trafford

Zak Crawley has just been told off by the umpire for throwing the ball in on the bounce.

That's the old trick to scuff it up and try to get it to reverse.

In my/our defence, Patrick, we all got swept up in the excitement...

Admittedly, the innings victory looks less likely, but I still think England should win this one.

Daniel Norcross
Test Match Special commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

The problem England have got here is that their tactic of bowling over the wicket with the spinner and round the wicket with the fast bowler is that Indian batters don't have to use their bat at all. If they wanted to, they could drop their bat at their feet and they would never get out.

Hi Patrick, I can't seem to recall. Have we met before?

The players to take drinks.

A bouncer from Jofra Archer to start with but it slows up on the pitch, and KL Rahul swats it to the boundary for four. The England quick switches to round the wicket to Shubman Gill, but the angle appeals to the India skipper who square drives him for four.

Suspect there's a few nodding off in the stands now as the excesses of the day start to take their toll. Liam Dawson has changed his line to outside of leg stump but Shubman Gill seems content to kick him away.

A short-pitched delivery from Jofra Archer but it fails to get up as KL Rahul attempts to pull, but is nowhere near Ollie Pope under the lid.

Two balls later and Rahul rides the bounce and punches it away for four. Nicely played.