England's bowlers curbed India's brisk-scoring ambitions Monday on the penultimate day of the second and final cricket test, although the home side still amassed a 285 run lead with six wickets remaining. With a 151-run first innings lead after dismissing England for 302 following a delayed start to the fourth day, India's batsmen only managed to make 134 for four in four hours.

India, which scored 453 in its first innings, was not able to score as fast as it would have liked to set up a victory push Tuesday, and with the final day's play again likely to be affected by dense winter fog a draw now looks to be the most likely result. After winning the opening test by six wickets in Chennai last week, India wanted to build a big lead quickly in pursuit of a series sweep, but lost its way after three top batsmen fell without making an impact.

Virender Sehwag (17), Rahul Dravid (zero) and Sachin Tendulkar (5) fell cheaply as the home team's pursuit of a big score Sunday was foiled by England's accurate bowling attack, assisted by some reckless running between the wickets by the Indians. Sehwag was run out by Ian Bell going for a sharp single and first-innings century-maker Dravid was bowled by a Stuart Broad ball that moved sharply and kept low. Tendulkar cut paceman James Anderson into the hands of Graeme Swann in the gully.

V.V.S. Laxman (15) departed in the day's last session, becoming the second batsman to be run out when he was beaten by Andrew Flintoff's throw to wicketkeeper Matt Prior after initially hesitating to run. Opener Gautam Gambhir (44 not out) and Yuvraj Singh (39 not out) then guided India to the close without further damage.

Gambhir stoutly defended for four hours, hitting just three boundaries from 155 deliveries, while Yuvraj struck a huge six and five boundaries off 40 balls. Earlier, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh took three lower-order wickets as England lost its last four batsmen for the addition of just 20 runs to its overnight total of 282.

After the start was delayed by two hours due to dense fog, Harbhajan added Prior (2), Broad (1) and Monty Panesar (5) to the key wicket of skipper Kevin Pietersen, whom he removed in the penultimate over Sunday. Harbhajan's four wickets came in a 54-ball spell in which he conceded just 17 runs and moved within one wicket of equaling South African pace bowler Dale Steyn's haul of 64 as the leading test wicket-taker in 2008.

Harbhajan had Prior caught behind by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the third over and then bowled Broad with a delivery that straightened after pitching. Paceman Zaheer Khan bowled Swann (3) to return 3-76 before Harbhajan wrapped up the innings when he had Panesar caught by Gambhir at short leg.