A stop-start second afternoon at The Oval saw India reach tea on 85 for 3, the drizzle arriving barely ten balls after Shubman Gill’s careless run-out had tilted the balance England’s way.
Gill, the form player of the tour and already past the record for most runs by an India captain in a single Test series, looked set again. He had pushed to 42, seeing off a searching new-ball spell on a surface offering ample swing and a little seam off the 8 mm of grass left on. Then came the moment that felt avoidable. B Sai Sudharsan called, hesitated, and stayed put; Gill trusted the call, charged through, and was well short when Gus Atkinson swooped in his follow-through and hit one stump at the keeper’s end. Sudharsan’s apologetic tap of the bat did little to soften the blow.
Atkinson, back after a fitness test with Surrey’s second XI, was the pick of an otherwise mixed England attack. His first spell read 6-1-7-1: full length, off-stump line, no fuss. He had already nipped out Yashasvi Jaiswal, squared up and edged to third slip in the fourth over, before producing the run-out that removed Gill. The right-arm quick looked England’s one bankable option as Ben Stokes’ side fielded a patchwork seam unit.
Without the injured Stokes himself, England made three changes. Chris Woakes, somehow still standing after four straight Tests, kept his place and shared the new ball. Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue both fought for rhythm: Tongue’s first over leaked 11 in wides, Overton’s opening three overs cost 18. “Gus is holding us together,” Woakes admitted during a brief TV chat while the covers were dragged on. “He’s hitting that perfect area every time—makes life simple for the rest of us.”
India’s top order, meanwhile, mixed good judgement with the odd lapse. Sudharsan, on debut last week and out leaving to second slip for nought, left far better here. He was 28 from 84 balls at the interval, driving two on-drives that brought a murmur from the sparse crowd. Conditions stayed awkward: the odd ball leapt, several nipped back. Karun Nair, recalled for his first Test in nearly five years, had just begun his comeback, 0 not out from eight deliveries when the umpires walked them off for the final time.
“Weather’s part of touring England,” India batting coach Vikram Rathour shrugged afterwards. “We’d have liked Shubman to kick on—he knows that—but the basics are the same: leave well, play late, cash in when it’s there. Sudharsan’s showing he can do that.”
With more rain forecast, both sides know time could yet be a factor. India, already leading the series 3-1, need only a draw to seal it; England require a win to square things. Much, as ever, rests on how long this stop-start English summer chooses to stay interrupted.
