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England may yet win the fifth Test in Manchester, and claim a 2-2 share of what would go down as a riveting series. But then that's the problem with England: they so often end up looking ahead, hoping for the best, seeking their next route out of a tight spot.
Events on the last day at The Oval were very much in keeping with this approach. Joe Root's team had spent the first four days of a crucial game squandering chance after chance to take control.
Yet they arrived in Kennington telling themselves that, despite everything, they really could pull off a fourth-innings chase to exceed anything they had managed in 144 years of Test cricket.
Joe Root shoulders too much of the burden for England when it comes to batting
Needless to say, they were bowled out soon after tea for 210, leaving India a win - or a draw - away from their first series victory in this country since 2007, and only their fourth in all since their maiden visit in 1932.
Equally needless to say, Root ended the match citing his team's comeback at Headingley after the defeat at Lord's, and urging his players to repeat the dose at Old Trafford, where the series resumes on Friday. Don't fret, guys: there's always tomorrow.
Hope over expectation is a long-established trope in English cricket. It reached its high point at Headingley in 1981, and was resurrected at the same venue two summers ago by Ben Stokes. Ian Botham is busy these days preparing to do trade deals with Australia, Stokes is recuperating from mental-health issues and a troublesome finger, and miracles are stubbornly few and far
