India beat England by six runs to earn a series draw – in a thrilling final day of their fifth Test encounter.
Going into Monday’s play, England began on 339-6, 35 adrift of their 374 target needed to win.
But they came up narrowly short as their final partnership of Gus Atkinson and an injured Chris Woakes were unable to stop the tourists. Mohamed Siraj was India’s hero after clean bowling Atkinson to give his country their narrowest victory in terms of runs in a Test.
If England had managed to win the Test at The Oval, then Woakes would have gone down in cricketing folklore for coming to the crease with his dislocated left arm in a sling.
As it was, that was another plotline to an enthralling hour or so of Test cricket.
Topsy-turvy end to England-India series
Monday’s play started on a positive note for England as Jamie Overton hit the first two balls to the boundary.
Prasidh Krishna’s first ball was short but a full-blooded pull shot still came as a surprise given the precarious nature of the situation. The second was a win for the bowler, jagging into the inside edge and skimming past leg stump, but the result was the same.
Having shaved the target down to 27, the battle switched to Siraj versus Jamie Smith. This time it was India who landed a blow, Smith’s feet in cement as he wafted outside off to his first two balls then nicked the third.
There was a brief delay as the umpires checked the dismissal but it was a clean nick and safe catch from Dhruv Jurel, sparking riotous celebrations among the large contingent of away fans.
The tension was almost unbearable as Atkinson arrived in the middle and came within a couple of inches of a golden duck. It was a horrible welcome delivery from Siraj, who was convinced the ball was carrying to KL Rahul at second slip. In apparent slow motion, it hit the turf agonisingly in front of his outstretched hands.
England’s insistence of playing at everything continued, a high-risk response that brought several more fresh-air shots and near misses as well as seven runs before the next gut punch.
It was Siraj again, ducking one in and pounding the front pad. An ear-splitting appeal appeared to be falling on deaf ears but umpire Kumar Dharmasena waited an age before slowing raising his finger.
Overton had already charged through to the non-striker’s end seeking a leg bye and signalled for DRS as he ran through the crease line. Ball-tracking showed it clipping leg stump on umpire’s call, ushering in another explosive reaction in the stands as the 20 remaining runs began to feel like five times as many.
They eked out three more as Atkinson attempted to protect Tongue from the strike but he was soon exposed, Krishna railing a full ball through his defences to scatter the stumps.
That meant only one thing: Woakes would need to answer the call. He came down the steps to a rousing reception, received a pat on the back from Rahul, and began his mission impossible.
Atkinson decided playing for time was not an option and made an audacious move, swinging for the fences at Siraj and smashing him high and handsome towards long-off. It carried to Akash Deep but was travelling furiously and he fumbled it for a six.
The game of cat and mouse now began. Siraj tossed the last ball of the over wide in the channel, Atkinson missed but set off instantly anyway. Jurel missed an underarm run-out to win the match as Woakes scrambled through in serious pain, leaving 10 to win.
Atkinson knew he had to get things done quickly, but it was Siraj’s story to finish as he rattled the stumps to complete a five-for and a famous Test win for India as they drew the series.
