<p>London: A seesawing series that kept on giving till the final day of the final Test couldn't have ended on a better note as India completed one of their finest comebacks -- their lion-hearted performer Mohammed Siraj rightfully providing the exclamation point.</p>.<p>The 31-year-old, digging deep into his reserves on the final morning when India needed to bag four wickets and England had to get another 35 runs to clinch the series 3-1, produced an electrifying spell to fashion a nerve-jangling six-run win for the visitors that had the soldout crowd at The Oval rise up in pure admiration. India and England justly shared the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2-2. </p>.<p>The air was thick with tension in this South London venue as all four results were a possibility in a series where every match had gone into the final hour and both teams had traded blows in equal measure. Almost two hours before the start of play, fans had started to make their way into the historic venue which has been a theatre to several epic battles. What was supposed to be a busy Monday morning looked like a sporting Sunday afternoon. And they were not disappointed as Siraj (5/104) and Prasidh Krishna (4/126) dished out riveting performances that will be spoken about for a long time to come.</p>.<p>The start was a bit anti-climactic though as Jamie Overton pulled the first ball he faced from the incomplete Prasidh over for a boundary and then inside-edged the next one. And just like that the equation was reduced to 27 runs. It looked like England had come out with a definitive plan, Overton to play the big shots early on and reduce the margin as much as possible and Jamie Smith to hold the other end up. The plan worked in the first three balls and India started to feel the jitters.</p>.Siraj-inspired India dash England hopes, share series.<p>Siraj, who has toiled hard the entire series without the acknowledgement he deserves, refused to give up, giving a sensational start. He beat the dangerous Smith two straight times before getting him finally off the third ball. He could have had another, but Gus Atkinson’s edge fell just short of KL at second slip. Such was the level at which Siraj was operating, he was literally unplayable as batter after batter swung and missed his impeccable out-swingers. Every ball he bowled had a wicket written on it. It was tense, a game certainly not for the weak-hearted.</p>.<p>Siraj then had his second scalp, umpire Kumar Dharmasena taking an eternity before raising his index finger to rule Jamie Overton out which turned out to be 'umpire's call' upon review by the batter. Siraj was all pumped up and breathing fire. His energy rubbed off on to Prasidh, who sent back Josh Tongue with a 142 kmph bullet that crashed into the right-hander’s stumps. India were now sensing victory as Chris Woakes, with his left hand in a sling, walked out to bat to a rousing ovation with England needing 17.</p>.<p>The pendulum refused to stay still though, as Atkinson smartly rotated the strike with Woakes, who didn’t bat a single ball. And when Atkinson smashed Siraj for a six to reduce the equation to 11, anything was possible. Somehow, England managed to keep fighting, and Atkinson took strike against Siraj with 7 needed. Very importantly, England were two shots away from victory, which would have been heroic too. </p>.<p>Siraj took a moment to soak in the magnitude. He had to deliver in this over because he too was getting tired. It was now or never. Having bowled a lot of out-swingers, this time the Hyderabadi banked on his dangerous in-swinger. He came charging in and bowled a fast one. It was a classic ‘you miss I hit’ ball. Atkinson missed it, the ball clattered his stumps and Siraj leapt in ‘Siuuu’ celebration before being embraced by his team-mates and support staff. Yes is the meaning of the word Siuuu in Portuguese. Oh yes, India completed the Miracle of the Oval. A great finish to the series and a perfect start to Shubman Gill’s reign.</p>.<p>SCOREBOARD INDIA (I Innings): 224 ENGLAND (I Innings): 247 INDIA (II Innings): 396 ENGLAND (II Innings O/n: 339/6): Crawley b Siraj 14 (36b 2x4) Duckett c Rahul b Prasidh 54 (83b 6x4) Pope lbw Siraj 27 (34b 5x4) Root c Jurel b Prasidh 105 (152b 12x4) Brook c Siraj b Akash 111 (98b 14x4 2x6) Bethell b Prasidh 5 (31b 1x4) Smith c Jurel b Siraj 2 (20b) Overton lbw Siraj 9 (17b 2x4) Atkinson b Siraj 17 (29b 1x6) Tongue b Prasidh 0 (12b) Woakes (not out) 0 (0b) Extras (B-2 LB-9 NB-1 W-11) 23 TOTAL (all out 85.1 overs) 367 Fall of wickets: 1-50 (Crawley) 2-82 (Duckett) 3-106 (Pope) 4-301 (Brook) 5-332 (Bethell) 6-337 (Root) 7-347 (Smith) 8-354 (Overton) 9-357 (Tongue). Bowling: Akash 20-4-85-1 (w-2 nb-1) Prasidh 27-3-126-4 (w-1) Siraj 30.1-6-104-5 Sundar 4-0-19-0 Jadeja 4-0-22-0. </p><p>Result: India won by 6 runs; Series: India level 5-match series 2-2. PoM: Mohammed Siraj. India PoS: Shubman Gill. England PoS: Harry Brook. Pataudi Medal for winning captain: Shared by Ben Stokes and Shubman Gill. </p>
<p>London: A seesawing series that kept on giving till the final day of the final Test couldn't have ended on a better note as India completed one of their finest comebacks -- their lion-hearted performer Mohammed Siraj rightfully providing the exclamation point.</p>.<p>The 31-year-old, digging deep into his reserves on the final morning when India needed to bag four wickets and England had to get another 35 runs to clinch the series 3-1, produced an electrifying spell to fashion a nerve-jangling six-run win for the visitors that had the soldout crowd at The Oval rise up in pure admiration. India and England justly shared the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2-2. </p>.<p>The air was thick with tension in this South London venue as all four results were a possibility in a series where every match had gone into the final hour and both teams had traded blows in equal measure. Almost two hours before the start of play, fans had started to make their way into the historic venue which has been a theatre to several epic battles. What was supposed to be a busy Monday morning looked like a sporting Sunday afternoon. And they were not disappointed as Siraj (5/104) and Prasidh Krishna (4/126) dished out riveting performances that will be spoken about for a long time to come.</p>.<p>The start was a bit anti-climactic though as Jamie Overton pulled the first ball he faced from the incomplete Prasidh over for a boundary and then inside-edged the next one. And just like that the equation was reduced to 27 runs. It looked like England had come out with a definitive plan, Overton to play the big shots early on and reduce the margin as much as possible and Jamie Smith to hold the other end up. The plan worked in the first three balls and India started to feel the jitters.</p>.Siraj-inspired India dash England hopes, share series.<p>Siraj, who has toiled hard the entire series without the acknowledgement he deserves, refused to give up, giving a sensational start. He beat the dangerous Smith two straight times before getting him finally off the third ball. He could have had another, but Gus Atkinson’s edge fell just short of KL at second slip. Such was the level at which Siraj was operating, he was literally unplayable as batter after batter swung and missed his impeccable out-swingers. Every ball he bowled had a wicket written on it. It was tense, a game certainly not for the weak-hearted.</p>.<p>Siraj then had his second scalp, umpire Kumar Dharmasena taking an eternity before raising his index finger to rule Jamie Overton out which turned out to be 'umpire's call' upon review by the batter. Siraj was all pumped up and breathing fire. His energy rubbed off on to Prasidh, who sent back Josh Tongue with a 142 kmph bullet that crashed into the right-hander’s stumps. India were now sensing victory as Chris Woakes, with his left hand in a sling, walked out to bat to a rousing ovation with England needing 17.</p>.<p>The pendulum refused to stay still though, as Atkinson smartly rotated the strike with Woakes, who didn’t bat a single ball. And when Atkinson smashed Siraj for a six to reduce the equation to 11, anything was possible. Somehow, England managed to keep fighting, and Atkinson took strike against Siraj with 7 needed. Very importantly, England were two shots away from victory, which would have been heroic too. </p>.<p>Siraj took a moment to soak in the magnitude. He had to deliver in this over because he too was getting tired. It was now or never. Having bowled a lot of out-swingers, this time the Hyderabadi banked on his dangerous in-swinger. He came charging in and bowled a fast one. It was a classic ‘you miss I hit’ ball. Atkinson missed it, the ball clattered his stumps and Siraj leapt in ‘Siuuu’ celebration before being embraced by his team-mates and support staff. Yes is the meaning of the word Siuuu in Portuguese. Oh yes, India completed the Miracle of the Oval. A great finish to the series and a perfect start to Shubman Gill’s reign.</p>.<p>SCOREBOARD INDIA (I Innings): 224 ENGLAND (I Innings): 247 INDIA (II Innings): 396 ENGLAND (II Innings O/n: 339/6): Crawley b Siraj 14 (36b 2x4) Duckett c Rahul b Prasidh 54 (83b 6x4) Pope lbw Siraj 27 (34b 5x4) Root c Jurel b Prasidh 105 (152b 12x4) Brook c Siraj b Akash 111 (98b 14x4 2x6) Bethell b Prasidh 5 (31b 1x4) Smith c Jurel b Siraj 2 (20b) Overton lbw Siraj 9 (17b 2x4) Atkinson b Siraj 17 (29b 1x6) Tongue b Prasidh 0 (12b) Woakes (not out) 0 (0b) Extras (B-2 LB-9 NB-1 W-11) 23 TOTAL (all out 85.1 overs) 367 Fall of wickets: 1-50 (Crawley) 2-82 (Duckett) 3-106 (Pope) 4-301 (Brook) 5-332 (Bethell) 6-337 (Root) 7-347 (Smith) 8-354 (Overton) 9-357 (Tongue). Bowling: Akash 20-4-85-1 (w-2 nb-1) Prasidh 27-3-126-4 (w-1) Siraj 30.1-6-104-5 Sundar 4-0-19-0 Jadeja 4-0-22-0. </p><p>Result: India won by 6 runs; Series: India level 5-match series 2-2. PoM: Mohammed Siraj. India PoS: Shubman Gill. England PoS: Harry Brook. Pataudi Medal for winning captain: Shared by Ben Stokes and Shubman Gill. </p>