India vs England 5th Test: Pacers pull strings in see-saw affair

London: Fast bowlers continued to call the shots on a surface deliciously cooked for them as batters both from India and England found the generous green serving too hard to savour, leaving the fifth and final Test interestingly poised here on Friday.

First it was the turn of the English seamers to complete the demolition job they started so well on Thursday. Gus Atkinson bowled a sizzling spell of 2.4-1-2-3 in the morning to complete a well-deserved fifer (5/33) and with Josh Tongue (3/57) complimenting him well, England shot out India, resuming on overnight score of 204/6, for 224 in 69.4 overs within 25 minutes on the morning at The Oval. Then their Indian counterparts Mohammed Siraj (4/86), Prasidh (4/62) and Akash Deep (1/80) weathered an early onslaught from openers Zak Crawley (64) and Ben Duckett (43) with an inspired show in the post-lunch session to dismiss England for 247, limiting the lead to just 23 runs. 

India then had to bat for 18 overs and things weren’t easy as England pacers, despite missing their leader Chris Woakes, bowled with the same heart and character as on the opening day. Edgy India, led by a counter-attacking 51 not out from Yashasvi Jaiswal, took stumps at 75/2. It could have been worse for India had England not dropped three catches, two of Jaiswal and one of Sudharsan.

The heroes for India were, however, Siraj and Prasidh, the duo dishing out a riveting spell in the post-lunch to completely wreck England. With the wicket still holding a lot of grass and offering a generous amount of pace, bounce, and swing that saw India fall apart quickly, Crawley and Duckett figured the best way to counter the challenge was to employ ‘Bazball’. The 5’7’’ left-handed Duckett often kept coming down the wicket to throw Akash and Siraj off their lines and lengths. He kept smashing them through the cover region and mixed it up with his scoop shots or reverse sweeps. 

The 6’5’’ Crawley, on the other hand, banked on his stand-and-deliver approach to slay the Indians. Using his giant frame to good effect, he drove, cut, and pulled as runs came thick and fast. The way both Crawley and Duckett were bashing the ball, it looked like The Hundred, scheduled to start on August 5, had come in early. Crawley and Duckett, well aware even batters with the best of defence could be found wanting on a surface where the ball kept doing something, operated with the foot firmly on the pedal as Indian bowlers struggled to rein them in. Then the lion-hearted Siraj swung the momentum India’s way with a cracking spell. Like in Birmingham, where he led the attack beautifully in Bumrah’s absence, the Hyderabadi trapped skipper Ollie Pope, Joe Root and Jacob Bethell leg before wicket in quick succession to leave England struggling at 215/6. Siraj bowled with passion and fire, and the cricketing gods showed him mercy this time by rewarding him with good returns in the wickets column.

Bowling, like batting, is all about partnerships, and Prasidh backed up Siraj’s effort with an equally impressive performance.

Prasidh Krishna (right) and Mohammed Siraj picked up four wickets apiece to bring India back into the encounter on the second day of the fifth Test on Friday. 

SCOREBOARD

INDIA (I Innings O/n: 204/6): Jaiswal lbw Atkinson  2 (9b) Rahul b Woakes  14 (40b 1x4) Sudharsan Smith b Tongue  38 (108b 6x4) Gill (run out)  21 (35b 4x4) Nair lbw 57 (109b 8x4) Jadeja c Smith b Tongue  9 (13b 1x4) Jurel c Brook b Atkinson  19 (40b 2x4) Sundar c Overton b Atkinson  26 (55b 3x4) Akash (not out)  0 (7b) Siraj b Atkinson  0 (4b) Prasidh c Smith b Atkinson  0 (2b) Extras (B-12 LB-6 NB-4 W-16)  38 TOTAL (all out 69.4 overs)  224  Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Jaiswal) 2-38 (Rahul) 3-83 (Gill) 4-101 (Sudharsan) 5-123 (Jadeja) 6-153 (Jurel) 7-218 (Nair) 8-220 (Sundar) 9-224 (Siraj).

Bowling: Woakes 14-1-46-1 Atkinson 21.4-8-33-5 (w-1 nb-4) Tongue 16-4-57-3 (w-4) Overton 16-0-66-0 (w-2) Bethell 2-1-4-0.

ENGLAND (I Innings): Crawley c Jadeja b Prasidh  64 (57b 14x4) Duckett c Jurel b Akash  43 (38b 5x4 2x6) Pope lbw Siraj  22 (44b 4x4) Root lbw Siraj  29 (45b 6x4) Brook b Siraj  53 (64b 5x4 1x6) Bethell lbw Siraj  6 (14b 1x4) Smith c Rahul b Prasidh  8 (22b 1x4) Overton lbw Prasidh  0 (4b) Atkinson c Akash b Prasidh  11 (16b 2x4) Tongue (not out)  0 (7b) Extras (B-6 LB-2 NB-3)  11 TOTAL (all out 51.2 overs)  247 Fall of wickets: 1-92 (Duckett) 2-129 (Crawley) 3-142 (Pope)  4-175 (Root) 5-195 (Bethell) 6-215 (Smith) 7-215 (Overton) 8-235 (Atkinson) 9-247 (Brook). 

Bowling: Siraj 16.2-1-86-4 Akash 17-0-80-1 (nb-1) Prasidh 16-1-62-4 (nb-2) Jadeja 2-0-11-0. INDIA (II Innings): Jaiswal (batting)  51 (49b 7x4 2x6) Rahul c Root b Tongue  7 (28b 1x4) Sudharsan lbw Atkinson  11 (29b 1x4) Akash (batting)  4 (2b 1x4) Extras (LB-2)  2 TOTAL (for 2 wkts 18 overs)  75 Fall of wickets: 1-46 (Rahul) 2-70 (Sudharsan).  Bowling: Atkinson 6-2-26-1 Tongue 7-1-25-1 Overton 5-1-22-0.