Benedict Bermange tries to find some solace for India in the statistics for the fourth and final Test...
Solid recent record in Kennington should boost Indian spirits...
England - soon to be confirmed as the No 1 side in Test cricket - arrive at the Oval aiming to complete a series whitewash against India.
Already 3-0 up, Andrew Strauss' side will be aiming to end the Test summer on a high after dismantling the tourists inside four days at Edgbaston.
But can India puncture their aspirations? Sky Sports' Benedict Bermange is back and has unearthed some stats that offer cause for encouragement...
India have not lost at
The Oval on their last six visits. Their maiden Test win in England came at the venue in 1971, and they last lost to England here in 1959.
Sachin Tendulkar scored his 99th international century against South Africa at Nagpur on 12 March. Since then he has had 10 international innings without a century. Surrey's Tom Hayward took 47 innings to go from 99 to 100 first-class centuries from June 1912 until June 1913.
Tendulkar & Rahul Dravid are only 17 behind Greenidge & Haynes is terms of runs added as a partnership. They already have the most century partnerships as a pair (19).
| Partners | Inns | NO | Runs | High | Ave | 100 | 50 |
| CG Greenidge, DL Haynes (WI) | 148 | 11 | 6482 | 298 | 47.31 | 16 | 26 |
| R Dravid, SR Tendulkar (Ind) | 133 | 6 | 6465 | 249 | 50.90 | 19 | 25 |
Tim Bresnan has won his first nine Tests. Only four players have had better starts to their Test careers:
| Player | Team | Years | Matches |
| Adam Gilchrist | Aus | 1999-2001 | 15 |
| Stuart Clark | Aus | 6 | 2006-2008 | 13 |
| Brett Lee | Aus | 1999-2001 | 10 |
| Thilan Samaraweera | SL | 2001-2002 | 10 |
Victory for
Andrew Strauss will put his second on his own in terms of Tests won as England captain:
| Captain | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | PercWon |
| MP Vaughan | 51 | 26 | 11 | 14 | 50.98 |
| PBH May | 41 | 20 | 10 | 11 | 48.78 |
| AJ Strauss | 38 | 20 | 5 | 13 | 52.63 |
England have won every match of a Test series of four or more matches on two occasions. The first came in 1959 when they were beaten five times in five games by India. More recently it happened against the West Indies, who won four from four in 2004.
India have lost every Test of a series of 4 or more matches on three occasions - in 1959 in England (five Tests), in 1962 in the West Indies (also five) and in 1967-68 in Australia (four).
Graeme Swann has four wickets at 80.25 in the series so far, and has performed far better against the lower-ranked teams in his Test career:
| Against | M | Balls | RC | Wkts | AvgBowl | RPO | 5i | 10M |
| Aus / Ind / SA | 19 | 4640 | 2460 | 62 | 39.68 | 3.18 | 3 | 0 |
Ban / Pak / SL / WI | 16 | 3849 | 1742 | 82 | 21.24 | 2.72 | 7 | 1 |
This will be England's ninth
series in a row without defeat - and their sixth successive series win. They went 14 unbeaten series in a row between 1951 to 1958 and nine series wins in a row from 1884 to 1892. The West Indies went a record 29 series unbeaten from 1980 until 1995 and this series defeat ends India's longest-ever streak of 11 series without defeat.
England have passed 500 in their last two innings. The Test record (which they share) is three innings in a row. In 2002 they made 529-5d, 545 and 512 against Sri Lanka.
Eight of England's starting eleven have
scored Test centuries. Apart from the World XI against Australia at Sydney in 2005, only three sides have fielded nine Test centurions:
| Team | Against | Venue | Season |
| New Zealand | Australia | Brisbane | 2004/05 |
| South Africa | New Zealand | Johannesburg | 2005/06 |
| India | Australia | Perth | 2007/08 |
