Hoggard looks happy as Harbhajan is out

Then England's left-handed openers got the second innings ticking along - 11 runs coming off Javagal Srinath's opening over.

But Harbhajan Singh had bowled just one ball of his spell before the rain returned and brought the players off again. This time it was terminal.

Earlier, England's new-found fast-bowling pair, Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff, each claimed their fourth wicket of the innings.

When play eventually started, the first missed chance came as Hoggard induced an edge from Anil Kumble, only for substitute Martyn Ball to spill the chance at first slip.

Hoggard then dropped Harbhajan Singh down at long leg off Flintoff, but the very next ball Kumble was held by Trescothick at second slip and was out for 14.

England wasted another chance of a wicket when Sarandeep Singh looked plum lbw to a Flintoff no-ball.

Rain has seen the umpires come and go

But Hoggard then had Harbhajan beautifully taken at mid-off by Nasser Hussain diving forward, before Michael Vaughan's impressive direct hit from cover point ran out Sarandeep. The last three wickets added just 20 runs.

Bad weather had caused constant interruptions on Friday and steady drizzle hampered attempts to dry up the pitch on Saturday morning.

At one point, match referee Denis Lindsay said: "For us to play today is not going to be an easy thing."

But the sun finally broke through enough for the umpires to be satisfied that the ground was in a fit enough condition for play.

The tourists started Friday in a strong match position, and reinforced their situation on Saturday.

But with less than 16 overs of cricket on Saturday, the draw looks by far the most likely result.

India: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Deep Dasgupta (wkt), Shiv Sunder Das, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Sarandeep Singh.

England: Nasser Hussain (capt), Mark Butcher, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Ramprakash, Andrew Flintoff, Michael Vaughan, Craig White, James Foster (wkt), Ashley Giles, Richard Dawson, Matthew Hoggard.

Umpires: Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka) and A.V.Jayaprakash (India). Third umpire: Francis Gomes (India).

ICC match referee: Denis Lindsay (South Africa).