Dominic Cork made an impressive return to the Test arena by producing his best innings in five years to prevent England losing their dominant position in the series-decider against India at The Oval.

Having won the battle with Essex all-rounder Ronnie Irani for the number-seven spot in the absence of Andrew Flintoff, who is recovering from surgery on his hernia condition, the Derbyshire captain was more than aware another failure could result in the end of his immediate international future.

He responded with a determined half-century to halt a middle-order collapse and prevent England, who had their sights set on a first-innings total of anything up to 600, wasting their opening-day efforts after they had resumed on 336 for two.

He batted with skill, resolve and typical flamboyance to record his highest Test score since hitting 59 against New Zealand in Auckland five years ago.

And instead of England's middle-order collapse spreading through the tail, they progressed to 515 with the final five wickets adding a crucial 143 runs.

Just to emphasise his role in England's recovery, as if that were necessary, Cork also made his point to the media, and followed the example of captain Nasser Hussain earlier in the summer by gesturing the number seven, his place in the batting order, and pointing his bat at the press box.

If his 141 minutes of defiance at the crease were not enough to convince even his harshest critics about his ability to respond to the big stage, Cork then took over Flintoff's place in the field and collected a catch at second slip to remove Virender Sehwag as India reached 66 for one by the close of the second day.

Cork's display had overshadowed England's earlier struggles when they resumed in a position of dominance and almost allowed India to wrestle control of the crucial Test away from them after a middle-order collapse similar to that which cost them the previous Test at Headingley.

The day had begun with another sell-out crowd arriving early in the hope of witnessing Michael Vaughan's maiden double century and the first by an England batsman in a home Test since Hussain scored 207 against Australia at Edgbaston five years ago.

Instead, Vaughan's demise for 195 after he resumed on 182 merely signalled the start of a disappointing display for the middle order, with John Crawley, Hussain and Stewart all falling cheaply before Cork halted the slide.

Vaughan had resumed his innings hoping to record the 29 more runs he needed to become the the first England batsman since Stewart in 1998 to reach 1,000 in a calendar year, but added only 13 before he edged a Zaheer Khan outswinger to wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra.

The first signs that his demise could be the start of a bigger collapse began nine overs later when Crawley, who had added only ten to his overnight 16, was given leg before to a straight Sanjay Bangar delivery he expected to swing.

Captain Hussain was the next to fall, slashing wildly at another full-length Bangar delivery which VVS Laxman took at second slip at the second attempt after juggling with the original chance.

Stewart was dropped at second slip by Sehwag on four but played his part in a productive 62-run partnership with Cork.

While Stewart rightly concentrated on keeping the scoreboard ticking over with singles, Cork was far more aggressive and drove Bangar for successive boundaries, although his positive tactics almost led to his downfall when Sourav Ganguly put down a sharp chance at mid-on after Cork had reached 31.

That missed chance did not prove too costly after the introduction of Harbhajan Singh, who struck with his tenth delivery to have Stewart caught behind and claimed his second wicket in 14 balls when Alex Tudor edged to Rahul Dravid at slip.

His most crucial breakthrough, though was that of Cork 14 overs later when an attempted yorker hit him on the boot and umpire Dave Orchard upheld an appeal for leg before with England still 23 short of the magical 500 total.

Ashley Giles then teamed up with Andrew Caddick to add a further 37 before Anil Kumble and Harbhajan, who closed with five for 115, finished off the innings to leave India 22 overs to negotiate before the close.

Sehwag hit two early boundaries off Matthew Hoggard before Caddick responded to criticism of his bowling at Headingley by inducing him into edging to Cork at second slip