Ian Bell struck his maiden double hundred on Saturday to help England to 591-6 at lunch against India, taking the hosts toward a likely declaration in the fourth and final Test at The Oval.

Resuming on 181, Bell passed 200 with a flick to the fine-leg boundary for one of his 23 fours and was finally trapped lbw by Suresh Raina for 235 shortly before the interval.

India took three wickets for 134 runs for its most successful session of the match but is still staring the possibility of a 4-0 series defeat.

Nightwatchman James Anderson (13) and Eoin Morgan (1) both fell to the previously unthreatening Sreesanth before Bell put on 61 for the sixth-wicket with Ravi Bopara, who received a welcome chance to spend some time at the crease and was unbeaten on 44. Matthew Prior was 18 not out.

But rain began falling as the teams walked off, umbrellas opening in the crowd and ground staff bringing on the covers. Two whole sessions have already been lost to rain following a downpour on the opening day.

Play had started under bright sunshine and Sreesanth had Anderson caught off a thick edge by VVS Laxman at second slip in the fifth over. He tempted Morgan into a similar dismissal to MS Dhoni behind the stumps in his next over, finishing the session with 3-123.

But Bell and Kevin Pietersen had already put victory beyond India’s reach with a 350-run partnership on Friday - the highest third-wicket stand by any team in 131 years of Test cricket at the south London ground.

Pietersen fell for 175 late in the day but Bell continued with serene authority against the team England has deposed as Test cricket’s No. 1.

He clipped a boundary off his hip from the third ball of the morning on Saturday to set the tone and soon passed England teammate Alastair Cook as Test cricket’s leading scorer for 2011.
By the time he misjudged Raina to depart to a predictable ovation, Bell had reached 950 runs for the year - 23 more than Cook.

England has now passed 500 for the third time in six innings and has now scored 2,809 in the series to 1,461 by India, averaging 59.77 per wicket to 24.35 for the tourists.
Pietersen alone has 533 for the series - more than Indian batting stars Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman combined.