England put safety first before considering record

LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) England are not giving up on chasing down a record 500 for victory in the third test against India, pace bowler James Anderson said today.

England reached 56 without loss on day four at The Oval and now need to bat briskly through the final day if they are to have any chance of securing the series levelling win.

The highest fourth innings score (418 for seven) to win a match was made by West Indies against Australia in 2003.

''We are pretty pleased as it was a tricky 20 overs for us (to face),'' Anderson told reporters. ''Tomorrow we will bat for as long as we can. The first goal is to save the game.'' Hinting at a possible dash for the record later in the day, he added: ''If we can keep wickets in hand then we will see where we are.'' India surprised pundits by choosing not to enforce the follow-on and instead took 58 overs to score 180 for six before declaring after the tea break.

Captain Rahul Dravid laboured to score 12 in 140 minutes, clearly trying to take time out of the game and seemed to be more intent on winning the series (1-0), rather than trying for a more comprehensive 2-0 triumph.

Although India are still in command of the game, they refused to get carried away.

''In the past we have scored over 400 runs on this ground and almost won (in 1979) and the wicket is playing beautifully,'' India team manager Chandu Borde said.

''It's not turning or helping the spinners as much as we expected and our bowlers needed a rest,'' he added, in defence of not making England follow on.

''The result all depends on the wicket here but we are quite confident of performing well. We are hoping the wicket on the last day will give us more assistance to put England under pressure.'' REUTERS KK SBA RAI0122