Prasidh Krishna delivered the first breakthrough early in the morning session of Day 4 at The Oval, dismissing Ben Duckett for 54. With England chasing 374, the well-set Duckett looked dangerous — but Prasidh had other plans. On just the fourth ball of the morning, he drew Duckett into a drive and had him caught at second slip.
What made the wicket stand out was the change in Duckett’s technique — something Ricky Ponting analysed in detail on Sky Sports.
“It was very unusual. He was only 4 balls into Prasidh Krishna’s first over as well. He started where he normally starts. Couple of short balls pushed him back and changed his whole game and his whole technique,” Ponting said.
“The ball he gets out is so deep in his crease. He tries to play forward but his front foot doesn’t get in front of the front crease line which brought in the edge. There was a little bit of a seam movement from the delivery as well. Yes, it was very full but it just seamed enough to go from the middle of the bat to the outside edge. So unusual to see someone change his game, especially when he was in and set. So, unusual and brought about his downfall,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj continued his strong efforts. After removing Crawley late on Day 3, he returned to dismiss Ollie Pope with sharp bowling, leaving England at 164/3 at lunch — still needing 210 runs to win.
Although both Joe Root and Harry Brook scored a century each to put England in a strong position, India made a roaring comeback in the third session. However, due to rain, play was called off early. At stumps on Day 4, England were 339/6, needing 35 more runs to win with four wickets in hand.
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