A determined Rahul Dravid brought up his 35th century in Test cricket as he stood like 'Wall' defying the England bowlers as India reached 218 for six at lunch on the fourth morning of the final Test match being played at the Oval. India still need another 174 runs to make England bat again and the hosts are still firmly favourites to wrap up the series by 4-0 margin. However,the 38-year-old veteran who is unbeaten on 109 scored his third century of the Test series displaying enormous power of concentration and for the first time got a bit of support from the tail as Amit Mishra (38 batting) showed positive intent adding 81 runs for the undefeated seventh wicket off 123 balls. This century now takes Dravid past Sunil Gavaskar's 34-ton mark makes him the fourth greatest century-maker in the game behind Sachin Tendulkar (51),Jacques Kallis (40) and Ricky Ponting ( 39). India,who resumed at their overnight score of 103 for 5,lost only one wicket of Mahendra Singh Dhoni (17) from the morning session of 33 overs which yielded 115 runs. England began with Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann from two ends and found Dravid at his very fluent best. The right-hander began with a flick behind square leg off Broad and then dabbed him to square third man for another boundary. England replaced Broad with Anderson after the former had bowled five overs for 10 runs which paid dividends with Dhoni's wicket who nibbled at a delivery to give wicketkeeper Matt Prior a straightforward chance. Dhoni batted for 53 minutes and 50 balls and hit two fours,included a swept four this morning off Swann. Dravid,meanwhile,was his usual assured self as he clipped Anderson to fine leg to move into 80s. From then on,Dravid's progress towards his century was rather swift. He took 13 runs off a Swann over to move to 99.Dravid,uncharacteristically,slog-swept Swann to midwicket fence; dapped one past third man and then sweetly on-drove the off-spinner to be at the doorstep of his landmark. Tim Bresnan was now pressed into action and before Dravid reached his century,a rising delivery hit him painfully on his thumb. But he duly reached his century when he stroked him for couple of runs. Dravid's century took him only 223 minutes and 168 balls and was studded with 15 glorious boundaries. Fortunately for Dravid,he now received support from the unlikeliest of sources. Little Mishra showed a lot of gumption in holding his ground and hit some good strokes as well. He once came down the track to loft Swann; flicked Anderson for four and then hit Bresnan for two fours in one over. The 50-run stand between the two came off 83 balls. Just before lunch,Mishra smacked the part-time off-spin of Kevin Pietersen for two boundaries to move into the 30s. He wasn't through yet as he lofted the last ball before lunch from Swann for a massive six over long on. Mishra has so far batted for 77 minutes and 67 balls and hit six fours and a six.
