Mohali, March 12:

Anil Kumble grabbed three wickets to brighten India’s hopes of forcing a win in the second Test against England after Ashes hero Kevin Pietersen’s dubious dismissal here on Sunday.

The in-form England batsman was given out by Australian umpire Darrell Hair when his attempted sweep off spinner Harbhajan Singh was held by Rahul Dravid in the slips, but the TV replays suggested the ball hit only the forearm.

England had struggled to 112-5 in their second innings at stumps on the fourth day after conceding a lead of 38. The tourists are now just 74 ahead with five wickets in hand. Skipper Andrew Flintoff was unbeaten on 16 with wicket-keeper Geraint Jones on one and the last two recognised batsmen were at the crease.

Ian Bell top-scored with 57 for his seventh Test half-century before being caught behind to become leg-spinner Kumble’s third victim. Kumble, who became the fifth bowler in Test history to complete 500 wickets on Saturday, kept testing the batsmen with clever variations to end the day with 3-41.

India secured a first innings lead after an impressive 95 from Dravid and useful contributions from bowlers Irfan Pathan (52), Harbhajan (36) and Kumble (32). They were bowled out for 338 in reply to England’s first innings 300. India were in danger of conceding the lead when they were reduced to 153-5 after resuming on 149-4, but Dravid and Pathan steadied the innings with a crucial 76-run stand for the sixth wicket. Kumble and Harbhajan were then involved in a rollicking 53-run stand for the eighth wicket.

Flintoff was the most successful bowler, claiming three of the six Indian wickets that fell on Sunday to finish with 4-96. Swing bowler Matthew Hoggard and paceman Steve Harmison each bagged two.

SCOREBOARD

ENGLAND — 1st innings: 300

India — 1st innings (overnight: 149-4)

R Dravid b Flintoff 95

M Dhoni c Jones b Harmison 16

I Pathan c Collingwood b Flintoff 52

A Kumble b Plunkett 32

H Singh c Jones b Flintoff 36

P Chawla c Jones b Hoggard 1

M Patel not out 11

Extras: 34 (25lb, 8nb, 1w)

Total: 338

FoW: 1-18, 2-96, 3-103, 4-134, 5-153, 6-229, 7-260, 8-313, 9-321

England bowling: Hoggard 18-6-55-2, Harmison 28-9-60-2, Flintoff 22-3-96-4, Plunkett 9.2-1-37-1, Panesar 19-3-65-1

ENGLAND — 2nd innings

A Strauss c Dhoni b Kumble 13

A Cook c Dhoni b Patel 2

I Bell c Dhoni b Kumble 57

K Pietersen c Dravid b Harbhajan 4

P Collingwood c Dravid b Kumble 14

A Flintoff not out 16

G Jones not out 1

Extras: 5 (1lb, 3nb, 1w)

Total: 112/5

FoW: 1-7, 2-50, 3-55, 4-88, 5-109

India bowling: Pathan 6-1-16-0, Patel 5-2-10-1,

Harbhajan 19-5-37-1, Kumble 17-4-41-3, Chawla 4-2-7-0