India's Ishant Sharma struck off the last ball before lunch on the final day to end a stubborn fifth-wicket England stand that threatened to turn the tide of the second Test at Lord's on Monday.
It seemed England would get through the session without losing a wicket when paceman Sharma had Moeen Ali, taking his eye off a bouncer, caught at short leg by Cheteshwar Pujara for 39 made in nearly three hours at the crease.
However, Joe Root was 52 not out after a stand of 101 that took England to 5-173 at lunch.
England still needed a further 146 runs to reach their victory target of 319 but with a minimum of 60 overs in which to score them - a run-rate of under three an over.
Root and Ali had come together with England in dire straits at 4-72 after losing three wickets for two runs in 20 balls on Sunday.
England resumed Monday on 4-105, having only three times in their history made more than 300 in the fourth innings to win a Test.
And only once before had a side made more batting last to win a Test at Lord's, with the West Indies piling up 344 for one against England back in 1984 thanks to a brilliant double century by Gordon Greenidge.
Certainly, India would have started the day confident of recording their first away win in 16 Tests, with their last overseas victory coming against the West Indies in Jamaica in 2011.
And were they to go 1-0 up in the five-match series, following the drawn opener at Trent Bridge, it would also represent only India's second win in 17 Tests at Lord's following their 1986 success at the 'home of cricket'.
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