India managed to survive under challenging conditions on Day 1 of the fifth Test against England at the Oval as they finished the day on xxx/x. Karun Nair led the charge with his sublime innings on a stop-start day for the visitors as rain continued to break their momentum in the first two sessions.
For England, Gus Atkinson (2/31) and Josh Tongue (2/47) emerged as the top wicket takers as neither team could claim control of the match at stumps. Despite taking six wickets in the day, experts criticised England’s bowlers, who they felt could’ve done more given the amount of movement available throughout the day.
It all started with the coin toss once again falling against India captain Shubman Gill, who lost his fifth successive toss of the series. It was also India’s 15th successive toss loss in international cricket, a rare occurrence which has a probability of 1/32768.
As a result, the Shubman Gill-led side had to bat under the challenging conditions on a green top with overcast conditions overhead – a perfect recipe for disaster for any batting line up.
It didn’t take long for the treacherous conditions to cause harm, as Yashasvi Jaiswal was trapped in front of the stumps in just the fourth over by Gus Atkison. The India opener fell prey to the deliveries coming in from around the stumps seventh time in the series and got dismissed lbw for 2 (9).
Jaiswal’s weakness was also highlighted by legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar, who suggested him to alter his technique to avoid the dismissal. Sai Sudhardsan replaced Jaiswal at the crease as he walked in at number three.
Gill’s brain-fade moment costs India
The southpaw showed great maturity batting through a tough period as the England bowlers made the ball dance to their tunes under favourable conditions. Rahul and Sudharsan were circumspect at the crease and looked solid, sending a sense of calm in the dressing room.
However, just when everything looked good, Chris Woakes made KL Rahul cut one close to his body and chop it back onto his stumps. His dismissal brought the in-form captain Shubman Gill to the crease, who once again looked in fine touch playing some classy drives and pull.
It seemed for a while as if both Gill and Sudharsan were in a competition to play the most gorgeous shot of the innings, as the duo brought out the finest weapons from their repertoire one after the other. With the runs flowing in the middle, out of nowhere, rain came to disrupt the innings as both teams took early lunch.
The delay got longer than expected, and the play finally resumed an hour later. However, it brought with it a brain-fade moment from Gill, who ended up gifting his wicket to England due to some bizarre running. England were delighted to see the back of the highest run-scorer of the series without much effort as Gill’s blunder allowed England to get back into the game.
England vs India 5th Test Day 1 Updates
The majority of the session was washed out due to rain, and the third session was extended to 40 overs. India resumed again with some good shots from Sudharsan, who looked set for a big innings.
Karun Nair stands tall at stumps
However, out of nowhere, Josh Tongue bowled a peach of a delivery, which managed to get the outside edge of Sudharsan, which went straight into the gloves of Jamie Smith behind the stumps. Tongue found rhythm from around the wicket as he even got the big wicket of Ravindra Jadeja (9), with another corker.
With no Rishabh Pant in the team, Dhruv Jurel walked in at number seven and stitched a 30-run stand with Karun Nair to stabilise the innings. The duo played some shots to keep the scoreboard moving and took the score past 150. However, Jurel was dismissed during a bizarre passage of play as he first managed to overturn an lbw decision through DRS but was caught in the slips on the very next ball for 19 (40).
At the other end, Nair was unfazed as he gradually built on his innings, finding gaps time and again in the field. He found another good partner in Washington Sundar, who was fresh from a hundred in Manchester. The duo added crucial runs to the scoreboard late in the day, making full use of every loose delivery.
Nair went on to score his just his second fifty in Test cricket, ending an over eight-year-long wait for a half century, coming 11 innings after his famous triple century. He and Sundar saw India to stumps on with their unbeaten 51-run stand.
– Ends