As if the series needed more drama, play stopped for bad light with England on 339/6, chasing 374 for victory. Chris Woakes started to pace up and down in the dressing room in flannels, wearing a sling. The game suddenly changed after tea. The pitch became lively and the ball started to swing, both conventional and reverse.
Prasidh Krishna has an uncanny knack of oscillating between the sublime and messy. It was the phase when he channelled his inner Sylvester Clarke — one of Surrey’s biggest fast-bowling legends. Jacob Bethell tried to hit his way out of trouble but lost the middle stump. Even the great Joe Root started to look jittery before perishing for 105 off 152 balls. In the stands, the Indian voices, egged on by Mohammed Siraj, drowned their English counterparts. A thrilling series was heading to a nail-biting finale, when the elements intervened. The series decider will be stretched to Monday, a bank holiday in the UK. It’s on a knife-edge.
Earlier, Harry Brook miscued a pull off Prasidh and Siraj at long-leg nicely settled himself underneath the skier. He caught it but trampled on the boundary rope. Brook was on 19 then and England 137/3. The batter went on to score a magnificent 111 off 98 balls.
On a Headingley featherbed, the hosts had chased down 371, losing five wickets. On a tricky Oval pitch, it felt like they would win in a canter, with two Yorkshire lads, Brook and Root, doing it for their team in south London via a 195-run fourth-wicket partnership which came off 211 balls.
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Siraj did almost everything right in this Test as a bowler. It was ironic that he dropped a catch that felt like game-changing. Cricket can be cruel. Yes, 237 runs still needed to be scored after the slip-up. But it demoralised the team. The body language changed. England made 153/1 off 28 overs in the second session. That appeared to be the game.
Even if India lose the Test and the series, it would be preposterous to blame Siraj for it. The braveheart bowled his heart out and singlehandedly carried India’s attack in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence. But support was in short supply at the other end for the first two sessions. Akash Deep looked to be carrying a niggle. Prasidh was irritatingly inconsistent.
England were cruising, and with every run scored, the decision not to give Kuldeep Yadav a game was looking even more inexplicable. The Day 4 pitch had a bit of wear and tear, and a world-class wrist-spinner like Kuldeep could have been handy. But for five matches on the spin, the team management couldn’t accommodate him in the playing XI under the pretext of maintaining team balance. India still went with two spinners in this game. But the first 50 overs of England’s run-chase had only two overs of spin. Shubman Gill’s captaincy was poor to say the least.
The upside is that this young Indian team has managed to create an identity. They refuse to throw in the towel, come what may. The fighting spirit has kept them in the game.
Brief scores: India 224 and 396 vs England 247 and 339/6 (Harry Brook 111, Joe Root 105; Prasidh Krishna 3/109, Mohammed Siraj 2/95).
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