Bowlers put depleted England on top as India falter on Day 1

 Recalled fast bowlers Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue did the damage as India struggled to 204-6 at stumps on Thursday’s opening day of their series-decider against England at the Oval.

Atkinson took 2-31 in 19 overs on his Surrey home ground and also ran out India captain Shubman Gill.

The repeatedly wayward Tongue produced two superb deliveries on his way to 2-47 in 13 overs in a match India must win to tie the five-Test series 2-2. The returning Karun Nair, dropped after India’s defeat in the third Test at Lord’s, top-scored with 52 not out and Washington Sundar, fresh from a maiden Test hundred in the drawn fourth Test, was unbeaten on 19.

It was no surprise when Ollie Pope, leading England in place of injured skipper Ben Stokes, elected to bowl in overcast conditions on a green-tinged pitch after winning the toss.

Atkinson, one of four changes to the England team, soon had left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw for two on review.

Veteran seamer Chris Woakes then had Jaiswal’s opening partner KL Rahul, who has scored more than 500 runs the series, playing on for 14 trying to cut a ball that was too close to him.

Rahul’s exit brought Gill, who has already scored four hundreds in a prolific debut campaign as captain, to the crease, with India struggling on 38-2.

The skipper needed just 53 more runs to overhaul Sunil Gavaskar’s mark for the most runs scored by an India batsman in a Test series of 774 -- set by the “Little Master” against the West Indies in 1971.

But on 21 he set off for a single that was never on with Atkinson, following through, throwing down the stumps. Gill, halfway down the pitch, slipped as he tried to turn back to safety.

India were 85-3 when rain stopped play for a second time.

Not long after play resumed, Sai Sudharsan, who worked hard for his 38 off 108 balls, was undone by a late-moving Tongue delivery from around the wicket as he edged to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, one of four Surrey players in the team.

Ravindra Jadeja had proved a thorn in England’s side with a defiant hundred in the fourth Test at Old Trafford.

But one ball after upper-cutting Tongue for a boundary, the left-hander fell for just nine, in similar fashion to Sudharsan, as he edged an excellent ball to Smith.

Dhruv Jurel, in for injured wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, was caught at second slip by Harry Brook off the bowling of local hero Atkinson for 19 as India slumped to 153-6.

There was a worrying moment for England late in the day’s play when Woakes suffered a shoulder injury while diving in a desperate attempt to save a boundary and had to leave the field.

Nair then completed an admirable 89-ball fifty, including seven fours.

A schedule of five Tests in less than seven weeks has taken its toll, with India also making four changes to their team at the Oval as paceman Jasprit Bumrah, who hurt his back earlier this year, was left out.

Team bosses had previously announced Bumrah, the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, would only feature in three games during the current series -- a figure he reached in Manchester.Meanwhile, former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar believes Yashasvi Jaiswal’s dismissal in the ongoing fifth Test against England was a result of the left-handed opener missing a straight delivery while covering his off-stump.

Jaiswal started the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series with an impactful century at Headingley. But he is now on the verge of ending a series on a low note after being trapped lbw for just two by a full wobble-seam delivery from pacer Gus Atkinson at The Oval.

“Generally, the sense is that when bowlers come around the wicket, batters tend to cover their stumps throughout. Now, the margin for error if you miss the ball is very, very small. That’s why I belong to the school of thought that you can get up to the middle stump.”

“But if you start from the off stump and constantly look to cover it, then if you miss a straight one, you have no chance at all. That’s exactly what happened with Jaiswal,” said Bangar, also a former India batting coach, on JioHotstar.

Varun Aaron, a former Indian pacer, reflected on KL Rahul’s dismissal, where he chopped on to his stumps for 14 off Chris Woakes. “It was an opening batter’s masterclass.

Agencies