LONDON: England needed just half-an-hour and less than six overs to bundle out India on Day 2 of the fifth and final Test here at the Oval on Friday. Shubman Gill and Co in fact lost the last four wickets for just six runs.
Unlike the opening day, it was a bright and sunny day - apt conditions for overnight batters Karun Nair and Washington Sundar - to add to the team's total. The duo, however, could not last long as the visitors could add only 20 runs to their overnight total to get bowled out for 224 in 69.4 overs.
Pacer Josh Tongue, who scalped two wickets on the first day, started the proceedings for the hosts. Unbeaten on 52, Nair got an outside edge off the first delivery of the day but it flew down for four passing through the third slip and gully. Then Tongue bowled one down the leg and Washington flicked it for a four. The first over of the day yielded nine runs, raising hope for India to manage a good total.
Gus Atkinson was given the ball from the other end but Tongue continued to be wayward as he bowled the first ball of his next over down the leg side conceding four byes. The pacer, despite scattering it all around, produced two incredible deliveries on Thursday claiming wickets of B Sai Sudharsan and Ravindra Jadeja and the script remained the same the following day. The fifth ball of the over nipped back in, beating the inside edge of Nair and hit the back knee roll of the batter. Nair reviewed the on field decision but of no use.
In company of tail-enders, Washington then decided to add a few quick runs by adopting an aggressive approach and tried to clear Atkinson over square leg boundary only to be caught by Jamie Overton in the deep. With two set batters back in the pavillion, it was only a matter of time for England to fold out India and they did it with ease. Atkinson claimed the remaining two wickets to finish with a five-for on his return to Test cricket after a hamstring injury he suffered during the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in May.
England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett dealt in boundaries giving their team a flying start. They accumulated 71 runs in the first 10 overs. Crawley slammed as many as nine fours while Duckett hit three fours and two sixes in that duration to deflate India bowling. Mohammed Siraj opened the bowling giving away eight runs. His next over went for nine runs.
While Crawley was taking on Siraj, his opening partner Duckett decided to be harsh on Akash Deep. In one such attempt, he reverse pulled Akash Deep for a six in the fourth over and followed it up with three fours in the next over. The left-hand batter then scooped Siraj for a six bringing England's fifty inside seven overs. With the runs flowing in,
Gill decided to replace Akash Deep with Prasidh Krishna but that could not prevent the English batters from scoring at will. But in his attempts to play way too many unconventional shots, Duckett fell trying to reverse scoop Akash Deep. He could only glove it to wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel. The bowler then had an arm over the batter before having a chat with him. Duckett scored 43 off 38 balls. He scored five fours and two sixes in his innings.
Skipper Ollie Pope came in with the fall of wicket. England then completed their hundred in 14.4 overs and Crawley reached his half-century the next ball with a four off Akash Deep. At lunch, they were 109/1 after six overs.
