LONDON: It was in the first session on the morning of Day 2, England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett destroyed India's bowling attack to give their team a quick start in the fifth and final Test here at the Oval. Given the impact the duo had in the first innings, left-hand batter Duckett was a big threat for India even in absence of his partner in crime Crawley when the play resumed on the fourth day on Sunday.
The visitors needed to keep him quiet as he has the ability to run away with the game by scoring heavily, tearing apart the bowling attack. He had done that in the past in the series when he slammed a century to make the 371-run chase in the first match look like a walk in the park. Mohammed Siraj, however, was relentless and managed to keep Duckett under control.
Having already sent back Crawley the last ball of play on Day 3, the Hyderabad pacer beat Duckett outside the off stumps quite often but the batter survived. In his bid to make things happen, Siraj also went for 11 runs in the 20th over of the innings with stand-in skipper Ollie Pope hitting him for two fours.
It was a battle to watch as Duckett reached his fifty with an edge off Siraj that beat the gully fielder and went for a boundary in the deep third man. Siraj also went round the wicket looking to angle the ball into Duckett. He didn't get the wicket but succeeded in building pressure on the batter, who loves to score freely. Prasidh Krishna, who replaced Akash Deep from the other end, reaped the reward as he had Duckett caught at first slip by KL Rahul.
In the next over, Prasidh squared up Joe Root in the crease and he along with Ravindra Jadeja looked convinced that they had the batter. Skipper Shubman Gill, however, decided to consult wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel and didn't review the decision. He was right as the ball was going down the leg side. Given his height, Prasidh was also getting uneven bounce troubling batters. England went into drinks at 87/2 and their skipper resumed the play with three fours in an over from Prasidh to collect 14 runs from the same.
Root then dispatched Siraj for a boundary off his first ball of the next over. But the moment the English duo started to gain momentum, Siraj struck and trapped Pope in front of the wickets. The English captain reviewed it but the Hawk-Eye showed the ball was hitting the middle stump. The wicket meant the home team was reduced to 106/3.
Siraj bowled an incisive spell of 8.1 overs before being replaced by Akash Deep at the Pavilion End. Root, meanwhile, found back his rhythm after initial struggle and hit Prasidh for a couple of fours. Harry Brook, who got a half-century in England's first innings, smashed Akash Deep for a four and a six off consecutive deliveries to take the attack back on the bowler. He, however, ended up offering a chance to Siraj at the fine leg but the fielder stepped on the boundary line to give Brook a reprieve when he was on 19. Brook then hit Prasidh for two fours in the same over adding to the agony of Siraj and India. The duo added 58 runs in 10.3 overs as England went into lunch at 164/3 in 38 overs.
