Tea, Day Two – England 215-7 (Brook 33*, Prasidh 3-51, Siraj 3-66) trail India 224 by nine runs.
That first sentence looked very different at lunch. England had marched to 109-1, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett in cruise control, and India’s 224 felt a touch thin. Two hours later the mood has shifted. Mohammed Siraj rattled in for eight overs, Prasidh Krishna backed him up, and England are seven down with only Harry Brook and the tail between them and a deficit.
“It was simple,” Siraj told the host broadcaster during the break. “Hit the seam, keep believing, don’t look at the score.” Nothing flashy, but it worked: figures of 3-35 in that spell, Ollie Pope, Joe Root and debutant Jacob Bethell all beaten by late movement and just-enough uneven bounce from the Pavilion End.
Prasidh supplied the real sting in the final over before tea. Jamie Smith nicked to KL Rahul at second slip, then Jamie Overton was pinned in front first ball by one that jagged back. “You try to stay calm,” Prasidh said, reasonably pleased. “But sometimes the game takes over.”
Earlier it had all been England. Crawley’s third fifty of the series – 64 from 79 balls – arrived with the same breezy drives that have annoyed as many bowlers as they have delighted spectators this summer. When he flicked Prasidh straight to Ravindra Jadeja at mid-wicket the bowler’s reaction was muted, but a few minutes earlier the pair had exchanged words after a shy at the stumps clipped Crawley’s pad. Nothing serious, though it did raise the temperature.
Root’s entrance usually cools things, yet even he looked flustered. A couple of boundaries, a tense single, then Siraj pinned him – late nip, thump on the back pad – and the review confirmed what most in the ground suspected. Root’s 29, valuable but brief.
England’s difficulties were magnified by the absence of Chris Woakes, ruled out this morning with what the medical staff believe is a dislocated right shoulder. Ben Stokes does not want to bowl himself unless absolutely necessary, so Gus Atkinson had extra responsibility and responded with 5-33, his fourth Test five-for, cleaning up India’s last four wickets in 25 balls at the start of play.
“Atkinson’s rhythm was there straight away,” former England quick Steven Finn noted on TMS. “But you sensed India thought 224 kept them in it. They were right.”
Josh Tongue chipped in by skidding one into Karun Nair’s front pad for 57, wasting a review in the process. The over itself was a mess – wides, a no-ball, then the perfect in-ducker – epitomising the morning’s slightly frantic feel. Washington Sundar might have added useful runs but sliced Atkinson to cover; Siraj and Prasidh hardly bothered lingering, preferring to save energy for the real job.
So the match sits delicately. England’s slim advantage on first innings has evaporated; Brook remains, unbeaten on 33, still playing with that mix of swagger and calculation England fans now expect. Mark Wood can swing a bat, Atkinson too, but India have the ball jumping and a new Dukes due in 13 overs.
“It’s proper Test cricket,” Jadeja said, adjusting the sweatband on his forearm. “One session you’re up, next session you fight. We’ve fought.”
Plenty more turns ahead. For now, India walk off with the momentum, England stare at the scoreboard and the physio’s room, and day two at The Oval is alive and nicely messy – a bit like this report.
