England were on the brink of handing India another crushing defeat, their first set of consecutive home Test defeats since 1999-2000, after running through the hosts batting lineup on day four of the third Test at Eden Gardens.

India were 239/9 at stumps, an overall lead of just 32 runs, on a day that once again served the subcontinent giants a case of English spin.

Graeme Swann plucked open the gates, going through opener Virender Sehwag with a vicious off-break that sliced through the batsman. Swann also picked up Sachin Tendulkar and along with Monty Panesar softened the hosts for Steven Finn (3-37) and James Anderson (2-38).

The ensuing collapse, six wickets for 36 runs, looked certain to hand Alastair Cook’s men an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four match series, when Ravichandran Ashwin, batting at number eight, put down anchor. He was unbeaten on 83 off 151 ball.

Earlier, England resuming on 509/6 were bowled out for 523, taking a lead of 207 runs.

Pragyan Ojha (4-142) and Ashwin (3-183) were once again the wicket takers.