LONDON: Catches win the matches. It sounds cliche but overlooking it might cost the team a game. England can vouch for it. Till Friday afternoon, they were in the driver’s seat and even after they finished well below the score they looked to get to after the belligerent opening partnership in their first essay, they had the upper hand in the fifth and final Test here at the Oval.
The hosts, however, ceded ground to India by dropping as many as six catches till Tea on Saturday. Three of those reprieves were given on Day 2 and England’s generosity continued the following day as they spilled three more chances. Making the most of the chances they got in the field, India tore apart England bowling attack to pile on runs in the series decider.
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal, who slammed a century on Day 3, benefitted the most as he was dropped thrice during his 118-run knock which came off 164 balls. Harry Brook grassed a chance at the second slip in the fifth over of India’s second innings giving Jaiswal first reprieve. While that might be considered a difficult catch, the second one dropped by substitute Liam Dawson at deep fine leg should have been taken. The India opener hooked a waist-high short ball but Dawson failed to spot the ball and got hit in the face. Ben Duckett was the culprit the third time as he could not latch on to a tough catch at leg gully.
And it was not only Jaiswal, B Sai Sudharsan, Akash Deep and Karun Nair also got a reprieve each as England’s horrible day in the field continued.
Incidentally, it was Jaiswal who dropped four catches in the first Test at Leeds, which India lost despite five centuries from their batters in the match and setting up a formidable total of 371 for England to chase in the fourth innings. The Mumbai batter dropped three catches in the first innings and one in the next. If Jaiswal was at the receiving end after that loss, he made merry at the Oval thanks to butter-fingered England.
Jaiswal started the series with a century in the first innings of the series opener. He, however, could only manage two half-centuries since then before the Oval contest. In the previous four matches, he also got out for a nought twice raising doubts over his form. With England right-arm pacers bowling to him more from round the wicket, Jaiswal started looking vulnerable at the crease. Apparently low on confidence, Jaiswal got dismissed seven out of nine times in this series by right-arm pacers bowling around the wicket till the first innings of the fifth Test.
England pacers stuck to their plans on Saturday as Josh Tongue and Jamie Overton kept bowling to Jaiswal from round the wicket but the dropped chances meant the batter managed to survive to crack yet another century in the series. If the opener was slow to start, his partner Akash Deep dealt in boundaries. Such was his impact that India managed to score 52 runs without loss in the first hour of play. He also completed his first half-century in the process and added 107 runs for the third wicket with Jaiswal before being dismissed only 11 minutes before lunch.
India lost captain Shubman Gill and previous innings half-centurion Nair post lunch but Ravindra Jadeja along with wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel added 50 runs for the seventh wicket before the latter was trapped before the wickets by Jamie Overton. But by then, India’s lead had already swelled to 300 runs. And that might not have happened had England held on to the catches.
From an Indian perspective, Jaiswal would not mind it one bit as he record another century, his fourth, against his favourite opposition. It started with the home series last year where he stamped his authority with two centuries. When it looked like he might have a similar series in England, there were a bit of stumble in the middle. Jaiswal, however, bounced back to finish his series on a high. He has 411 runs to show for in ten innings with two hundreds and two fifties, averaging 41.1. After he got out Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja hit fifties, setting England a target of 374.
Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett started well, setting a good platform for England to build on. However, just before stumps were drawn, Mohammed Siraj delivered a brilliant yorker to remove Crawley, leaving England at 50/1. They still need 324 runs on a surface that has ample assitance for pacers. If India go onto capitalise, they have a chance at levelling the series 2-2.