But on Saturday the mood was one of misery, dejection and even boredom as England faced up to the prospect of a 2-0 home series defeat by India.

Their fans have grown used to winning on home soil -- and the easy 3-0 triumph over a poor West Indies side only built up expectation of another success against the Indians.

But things have not gone to plan.

Indeed, England have been convincingly outplayed in the last two Tests.

In 2005, fans roared every Kevin Pietersen slog-sweep with gusto as the series against Australia produced an unforgettable finale.

This time the mood could not have been any flatter as the threat of a second straight Test defeat, and a mighty thrashing at that, grew ever closer.

Supporters arrived at The Oval hoping for a resilient batting display which would at least restore some pride, even if the series had gone once India piled up 664.

But, after a decent start, spirits plunged just before lunch when the wily leg-spinner Anil Kumble followed up his maiden Test century by getting rid of Alastair Cook and Michael Vaughan in consecutive overs.

Not even Pietersen, so often the star attraction with his extravagant and aggressive strokeplay, could lift the crowd.

The Hampshire man, knowing that England needed to bat for two days, dropped anchor in the way that Sachin Tendulkar had done for India.

At one stage he went 36 minutes without scoring and such was the afternoon torpor the frustrated crowd, some of whom were napping in the sunshine, couldn't even find the energy to get a Mexican wave going.

There wasn't anger (that came when Matt Prior dropped VVS Laxman on Friday) but an air of resignation at England's sorry plight.

At least an inflatable toy gave one section something to play with -- before the stewards whisked it away.

And a brief flurry of fours from Pietersen finally raised some cheers but it was India's fans who rose to their feet when their hero Tendulkar prized him out with his first ball of gentle leg-spin.

How the Indians whooped and chanted football-style in jubilation; their counterparts could only sit in silence and disbelief.

Even after Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell battled away after tea, one look at the scoreboard brought back the depression.

The Barmy Army was out sung by a lone Indian singing Jerusalem -- and the match, in only its third day of five, seemed to be drifting into a strange No Man's Land.

Once Collingwood and Bell departed so did some spectators, knowing England's tail would not be long in the wagging.

Ryan Sidebottom went to a ridiculous shot and Prior for an inevitable duck, bringing cult hero Monty Panesar to the crease and the loudest ovation of the day.

Monty and Chris Tremlett made it through to the end, but the day couldn't have been much more demoralising for England -- who finished still a whopping 338 runs behind India.

A four-day defeat now seems likely and the days of slugging it toe-to-toe with the awesome Aussies seem a long way away.

England will need to regroup quickly to avoid further embarrassment against this talented and battle-hardened India side in the seven one-day matches that follow this series.

But you sense the fans who came here will quickly turn their attention to Premiership football and try to forget about a painful second half of the summer.

On this evidence, they don't have the stomach for much more.