Krishna and Siraj rock England in Test series finale

Guyer Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj took four wickets each as India fought back in the fifth and deciding Test against England at the Oval on Friday.

England were 129-1 in reply to India’s 224 all out as they threatened to build a substantial first-innings lead.

But they were eventually dismissed for 247, just 23 runs ahead.

The recalled Krishna had figures of 4-62 in 16 overs and fellow paceman Siraj 4-86 in 16.2 in a match India must win to end one of the most enthralling series in England since the 2005 Ashes level at 2-2.

India were 75-2 in their second innings, a lead of 52 runs, when bad light ended play on the second day, with England a bowler down in the absence of the injured Chris Woakes.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was 51 not out after being dropped twice.

The left-handed opener was reprieved on 20 when Harry Brook floored a tough catch at second slip following a loose drive off Gus Atkinson.

And he was missed again on 40 when Liam Dawson failed to sight a catch in the deep and was hit in the face.

Jaiswal cashed in with a 44-ball fifty completed when he guided Jamie Overton over the slips for six.

India opener KL Rahul was caught by first slip Joe Root off Josh Tongue before Sai Sudharsan, dropped on seven, was lbw to Atkinson for 11.

Earlier, Crawley and Ben Duckett shared a blistering first-wicket stand of 92 in just 13 overs after Atkinson marked his return to Test cricket with a five-wicket haul.

Both openers fell either side of lunch, however, before stand-in England captain Ollie Pope, leading the side in place of the injured Ben Stokes, was lbw to Siraj for 22.

Crawley and Duckett dominated India’s attack, with left-hander Duckett telling Akash Deep “you can’t get me out”.

Deep, however, had Duckett caught behind for 43 off an attempted scoop, then put his arm round the unimpressed batsman’s shoulder and appeared to say a few words as he walked off.

This incident came after India captain Shubman Gill accused England of ignoring the “spirit of cricket” by time-wasting in the third Test at Lord’s.

England were then angered by the India’s decision to bat on in the fourth Test at Old Trafford rather than agree a draw as soon as possible.

Siraj stars: Ater Duckett’s exit, Crawley holed out off a miscued pull against Krishna for 64, with 56 of those runs coming in boundaries.

The usually mild-mannered Root, second in the all-time list of Test match run scorers, found himself exchanging words with Krishna before the umpires intervened, and was lbw to Siraj for 29.

Jamie Smith’s edged drive off Krishna well caught by Rahul at second slip and four balls later Overton was lbw for a duck.

Brook struck an extraordinary ‘falling’ sweep for six off Siraj during a 57-ball fifty.

But Siraj bowled him for 53, with Brook the last man out as Woakes was unable to bat.

England paceman Woakes was effectively ruled out of the rest of the match before play on Friday after suffering a shoulder injury when diving in an attempt to prevent a boundary on Thursday.

But Atkinson responded with a superb return of 5-33 in 21.4 in an innings where he also ran out the in-form Gill.

The 27-year-old’s fourth five-wicket haul in just 13 Tests was all the more creditable as this was Atkinson’s first senior match since being sidelined with hamstring trouble following a one-off Test against Zimbabwe in May.

India, who resumed on 204-6, lost their last four wickets for just 20 more runs in 5.4 overs on Friday.

Agence France-Presse