5th Test: Rain Brings Early End to Riveting Day Four, Sets Stage for Thrilling Day Five

London: Bad light and subsequent rain forced the stumps to be called early on day four of the fifth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at The Oval on Sunday. With the stage set for a thrilling day five, England need 35 more runs to win, while India requires four wickets for a miraculous victory.

Rain forcing the match to go into the fifth day means every Test of the ongoing riveting five-match series has now gone into the last day. England looked all set to complete the chase of 374 on day four, thanks to Joe Root hitting his 39th Test century – 105 off 152 balls and paid a fitting tribute to Graham Thorpe.

His fellow Yorkshireman Harry Brook hit a stunning 111 off 98 balls – his tenth hundred in the longer format and made the most of a crucial reprieve on 19 by Mohammed Siraj. Root and Brook shared a brilliant counter-attacking stand of 195 runs, giving England the hope of completing their second-highest run chase of all time and the most runs hunted down by any team at The Oval.

But just when it felt that victory was inevitable for England, Root and Jacob Bethell fell to Prasidh Krishna, as India gave this match a fresh twist. Overcast conditions meant India found seam movement and found their groove to make life difficult for Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton – unbeaten on two and zero respectively.

Before India could bring more twists to the game, the rain gods intervened and brought a premature end to the day’s play. With Chris Woakes, with his left arm in a sling, pacing up and down in the dressing room in his Test whites, another fascinating day five finish looms large to decide the final scoreline of this closely-fought Test series – either 3-1 or 2-2.

In the morning, resuming from 50/1, England amassed 114 runs for the loss of two wickets in the first session. Ollie Pope took two quick boundaries off Siraj, even as Ben Duckett brought up his fifty off 76 balls by edging the pacer right of gully for four. But with Siraj and Akash Deep mostly keeping Duckett down, the left-handed opener wasn’t able to hit as many free-flowing drives as possible.

But on the fourth ball of Prasidh, Duckett went for a drive on a fuller ball, but edged to KL Rahul at second slip to fall for 54. Root had an uneasy start as Siraj beat him twice on the outside edge, while Pope grew in confidence by driving, whipping, and pulling Prasidh for three boundaries.

Just as it looked like Pope would run his way to a big score on his home ground, Siraj struck again when his sharp wobble seam nip-backer kept low to trap the batter lbw for 27, with the England skipper also burning a review, as replays showed it would eventually hit middle stump.

After that, Root hit two leaning drives off Prasidh for fours, while Brook edged him for a boundary, before pulling and lofting Akash for a four and six respectively. Brook had a big reprieve on 19 when Siraj, who came back on the field after a short break, took his catch in the deep off Prasidh.

But in the process of taking it, the pacer stepped on the boundary cushion to concede a six. There was no stopping Brook as he cut Prasidh for four before hitting him through cover for another boundary, as the counterattack from him and Root took England to safety at lunch.

After ending the first session on 38 not out, Brook completely flipped the script in the afternoon session by hitting his tenth Test century, laced with 14 fours and two sixes. His 195-run stand with Root also rendered Shubman Gill and India devoid of ideas to stop England’s run-flow.

With the ball going softer and the pitch not showing many signs of wear and tear, India couldn’t do much as England scored 153 runs in the afternoon session and put themselves on track for a series win. Post lunch, Brook continued his counter-attacking run by flicking and slashing Prasidh for two fours, before bringing up his fifty off 39 balls.

With Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja not getting much turn and help from the pitch, as well as pacers tiring out, Root and Brook continued to hit boundaries effortlessly, with the former bringing up his fifty off 81 balls to ensure India didn’t have any kind of respite.

After Brook was proficient in pulling Akash and Siraj for boundaries, he and Root were at ease in getting fours off Jadeja and Washington through extra cover and mid-wicket. Eventually, Brook brought up his hundred off just 91 balls and followed it up by hitting Akash for consecutive boundaries.

Brook’s wonderful knock ended when he danced down the pitch against Akash, but lost his bat in the process, and was caught by Siraj at mid-wicket. Root survived an lbw appeal off Siraj, as India burnt a review. But his hitting three boundaries at the fag end of the second session means he stood on the cusp of a match-winning century and leading England’s successful chase.

After the final session began due to a slight rain delay, Root brought up his century off 137 balls. From the other end, Bethell struggled for fluency and was dismissed. He went for a big heave, but bottom-edged to his stumps off Prasidh.

Suddenly, things began to grow tighter as Prasidh had Jamie Smith inside-edging to his pads, before beating him on the outside edge. From the other end, Siraj hit Smith and Root on pads with his nip-backers, before India burnt a review when Prasidh hit Root on pads.

But India found some hope to keep the game alive as Prasidh struck again by having Root edge behind to Dhruv Jurel, who dived to his right to take a good low catch. With Smith and Jamie Overton struggling to find gaps, India were well on top before bad light and then heavy rain forced players to go off the field and push the series decider to a knife-edge on day five.

Brief Scores:

India 224 and 396 lead England 247 and 339/6 in 76.2 overs (Harry Brook 111, Joe Root 105; Prasidh Krishna 3-109, Mohammed Siraj 2-95) by 35 runs.