India frustrate England at Old Trafford to keep Test series alive as Bazball meets its match on a mercilessly flat pitch, writes LAWRENCE BOOTH

England huffed and they puffed, but they could not blow India's house down in Manchester. Hell, they barely even blew their doors off.

A total of 143 overs in more than five sessions yielded a grand total of four wickets – two of them in the first five balls – allowing the tourists to leave Lancashire with a creditable draw and arrive in London this week with a chance to square the series at 2–2.

To add to England's irritation, the Indians turned down Ben Stokes's offer of a draw with 15 overs to go, because both Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja were nearing centuries. Their refusal seemed to offend England's disdain for personal milestones, though the batsmen surely deserved the chance to complete hard-fought hundreds – in Sundar's case, his first in Tests.

And so tempers – English tempers, mainly – frayed once more in a series that has pushed both sides to the brink of mental and physical exhaustion.

Harry Brook, who led the sarcastic remarks picked up by the stump mike, came on to bowl 35mph off-breaks that reeked of petulance. Undeterred, the batsmen tucked into the freebies, each bringing up three figures in a match-saving stand eventually worth 203. There was more testiness as the players walked off with the scoreboard reading 425 for four, laying the groundwork for a pulsating finale at The Oval on Thursday.

'Both of them were in the nineties,' said India's captain, Shubman Gill. 'We thought they deserved a century.' Their coach Gautam Gambhir agreed: 'Would England have walked off if they were approaching a hundred?'

By the time Stokes addressed the media, he had calmed down, praising his opponents while suggesting 'there would have been no less satisfaction walking off with 80 not out than 100 not out'.

But England should have taken their medicine, especially on a day when their shortcomings with the ball were exposed by centuries for Gill, his fourth of a momentous series, and India's two spin-bowling all-rounders. When conditions go as flat as this in Australia this winter, as they inevitably will, England will need more incision, or they can kiss goodbye to the Ashes – again.

It might have been different. Had Jadeja not been dropped in the slips by Joe Root moments before lunch off a despairing Jofra Archer, England might now be celebrating their first Bazball series triumph over fellow 'Big Three' opponents.

Instead, a tiring attack was blunted on another mercilessly flat pitch by Jadeja and Sundar, who arrived to a barrage of verbals led by Brook, and proceeded to silence England with elegant ease.

There will be changes for The Oval because, quite simply, there have to be. It feels unwise to risk Archer for a third game in a row so soon after his comeback, and there is an equal case for resting both Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse, who have both played the first four games, and returned bowling averages of 52 and 60 respectively.

'Everyone's going to be pretty sore,' said Stokes. 'We'll make an assessment of everyone, and use the next few days wisely.'

Yet again, the pick of England's seamers – indeed their only genuine threat – was Stokes, who ignored a sore biceps tendon in his right arm to begin the last day with an eight-over spell that produced the wicket of KL Rahul, trapped plumb in front by an inducker for 90. Stokes said his chances of missing the fifth Test were 'very unlikely'.

It's a fool's errand trying to keep up with his niggles, though England insisted this one has been brewing for a while. Yet it was soberingly clear that without his ability to create hope where none exists, India could do as they wished. 

That much had been evident on the fourth day, when Stokes – still suffering the after-effects of cramp – didn't bowl at all, allowing Rahul and Gill to kickstart India's recovery from none for two with a stand eventually worth 188. And when, on the final afternoon, Stokes limited himself to three overs between lunch and tea, and none at all thereafter, England again looked toothless.

Only when Gill, having moved past 700 runs for the series, edged a loose cut off Archer in the penultimate over of the morning session, did England look favourites. But their spirits were instantly doused: when Jadeja flashed unaccountably at his first ball, Root could only parry the head-high chance, before failing to grab the rebound. India still trailed by 89. Yet that, pretty well, was that.

It didn't help that Liam Dawson sent down 47 wicketless overs of left-arm spin that had Stokes urging him to vary his angle of attack as the players walked off at tea. Dawson kept India to two an over, as Shoaib Bashir would have been unable to do. But the feeling persisted that Bashir might have grabbed a wicket or two.

With Bashir nursing a broken finger, Dawson will get another chance at The Oval, but any or all of Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue and Jamie Overton could be drafted in to refresh the England attack.

India, too, will make changes, with Rishabh Pant already ruled out by his broken foot, and their pre-series pledge to limit Jasprit Bumrah to three games sure to be tested by the state of the series. Gill said India would 'wait and see', though it's hard to imagine that either Mohammed Siraj or Anshul Kamboj will feature again.

For the moment, his side should enjoy inflicting on England only the second draw in 40 Tests in the Bazball era. The first, also in Manchester, owed everything to rain that saved Australia two years ago. This was down to Indian guts and English impotence. A draining series may not have seen its final twist.