LONDON: What else could have summed up the final day of England's Test summer better than the finish here at the Oval. Mohammed Siraj running in like a man possessed and claiming a five-for, which included three of the four wickets that fell on Day 5, to hand India a win to remember for ages. Given his superlative show, India won the contest by six runs to level the series 2-2.
Resuming the day, Prasidh Krishna was hit for two back-to-back fours by Jamie Overton bringing down the equation to 27 after just four balls. But India's lynchpin Siraj had other plans. After beating wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith for two consecutive deliveries, the pacer, who was backed vociferously by the Indian crowd present at the venue, finally made him nick an away going delivery which was brilliantly held by Dhruv Jurel. He almost had Gus Atkinson the next delivery but the catch fell short of second slip where KL Rahul was positioned.
But he struck the next over, trapping Overton before the wickets. The batter reviewed but the decision was upheld. Since the morning, every ball Siraj bowled turned out to be an event as he was relentless outside the off stump swinging it away from the batters. Josh Tongue then survived a close call as Prasidh hit him on the pads but the replay showed the ball was missing the stumps.
Prasidh then cleaned up Josh Tongue to bring in Chris Woakes to the crease. The pacer, who dislocated his shoulder while fielding on Day 1, had his left arm hidden inside his jumper with a sling in place. His right arm was strapped but he was there to see his side home along with Atkinson.
There were anxious moments then with Akash Deep spilling a catch over the boundary rope for a six and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel letting Atkinson keep the strike but Siraj made sure India won the contest by castling Atkinson to end his and England's resistance as India triumphed in the edge-of-the-seat thriller.
A series well fought since it began on June 20 with players from both sides braving injuries and setting precedents. Be it Shoaib Bashir bowling with a broken finger or Rishabh Pant replacing his moonboot with batting shoes and coming down to bat despite a broken foot or English captain Ben Stokes hurtling along despite a stiff back and nagging shoulder pain or Chris Woakes standing in solidarity with his fellow batter with a dislocated shoulder.
Both teams gave their all but that's sports - only one team can win. And that's what happened across the 25 days of the neck-and-neck contest. India were ahead for the first four days but England dominated the final and deciding day to chase down an imposing target of 371 in the first match. Shubman Gill led India to glory in the second encounter scoring a double ton and a century. Following in the footsteps of his Indian counterpart, Stokes rose to the occasion at Lord's to swing the game in his team's favour.
The visitors looked done and dusted as their opponents piled on runs in Manchester but Gill once again led from the front while Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja took it to the end to make sure India remain alive and kicking in the series with an awe-inspiring draw in the fourth Test. And who can forget Joe Root's brilliance at Lord's followed by his record-breaking century in Manchester. It all culminated here at the Oval with a third ton in a row.
If those were the batters, the bowlers especially pacers toiled day in and day out ignoring the pain they have been enduring to make it happen for their respective teams. Be it Jasprit Bumrah in the first match or Stokes at Lord's or Siraj at the Oval. In the end, deservingly, the honours were shared in the series.