England hurt by late drops in decisive final Test

The Kia Oval, Day Two of the Fifth Rothesay Test, is scheduled for today (day 2).

India 224 (Nair 57, Atkinson 5-33, Tongue 3-57) &amp, 75-2 (Jaiswal 51*)

England 247 (Crawley 64, Brook 53, Duckett 43, Krishna 4-62, Siraj 4-86)

India leads by 52 runs.

Late in the second day of the crucial final Test, England let go of crucial catch and gave India the lead at The Oval.

Sai Sudharsan let off once before falling to Gus Atkinson, and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal put down twice in his 51 not out. The tourists, who led by 52, eventually closed out a chaotic day with a 75-2 lead.

The ball whirled throughout. India lost all nine of their first innings wickets for 155 runs when England were dismissed for 247 after being bowled out for 224 in the opening six overs of the morning.

An extraordinary opening score of 92 between Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett was incredibly valuable for the home side in such favorable circumstances for the bowlers given the home side’s lack of experience.

With his 43, Duckett reverse-swept Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj for six, which was sensational. In his 64, Crawley hammered 14 fours.

In what has been a tetchy series, Duckett’s dismissal, in an attempt to reverse at Deep, led to India’s resurgence and sparked more verbal exchanges between the two teams.

As Duckett left, Deep sat duck in his arms. Later exchanges between Prasidh Krishna and Joe Root were anything but amiable if that appeared pleasant. Root was furious, which is typically unflappable.

Krishna’s 4-62 and Mohammed Siraj’s 4-62 were outstanding. England slipped to a 23-point lead thanks to Harry Brook’s 53.

England’s second consecutive defeat was quickly achieved by that advantage. The hosts could not recover from a series victory despite being ruthless in the morning, led by Atkinson’s 5-33.

They were probably too far away, in fact. The Duckett-Crawley partnership stifled India, threatening to completely derail tourists. Though Duckett’s decision to dismiss him is up for debate, it was only appropriate for the remainder of a splendid innings.

India deserves a lot of praise for their bravery. Siraj, Deep, and Krishna have already out-bowled England, but they left themselves a seamer short of their choice.

Siraj stepped up to lead the attack, as he does when Jasprit Bumrah isn’t on the team. Ollie Pope, Root, and Jacob Bethell all had a game-changing contribution to the afternoon thanks to an unwavering eight-over spell that lasted for the entire afternoon.

On Thursday, England picked up wickets despite being poor with the ball. On Friday, their bowlers improved but the fielders did not.

England is more likely to attack if the playing conditions are worse. The Duckett-Crawley stand was the most extreme period of Bazballing this summer, which is why the aggressive intent also led to problems for England.

The rest of the day appeared to play a different game than the opening partnership. Duke danced down the pitch while playing the offensive shots over his shoulder. With strong drives, Crawley took the lead.

Duckett’s unsuccessful attempt at Deep opened the door to India, but it was one too many. Before the bowler’s altercation with Root caused the umpires to intervene, Krishna miscued Crawley and forced the bowler to pull.

Krishna made quick work of the lower-order as Siraj ran through the middle-order, including Bethell, who was six for six in his first Test match at home. The tame dismissals of Jamie Smith’s lazy ploy, Jamie Overton’s four-ball duck, and Atkinson’s miscue midway were all dismissed.

England needed Brook to keep them together, even as they rang in a frantic start. He slashed and swarmed his first 19 balls, which he had to score 9, before half-a-century from 57. Brook had a fantastic six-point sweep when Tongue arrived.

Even if England were limited bursts at the beginning and end of the day, it was far from ideal for them to be a man down and have to bowl twice on Friday.

England took the field in white headbands as The Oval honored former England batter Graham Thorpe’s life when India resumed their first innings, winning by 204-6. The ball was then delivered by Surrey’s Atkinson, who was also Thorpe’s opponent.

Tongue produced a vicious in-swinger for 57 pounds, which was just as erratic as he was on day one. For his fourth Test century century with five wickets, Atkinson bounced out of Washington Sundar, bowled Siraj, and caught Krishna behind. In 18 deliveries, the last four wickets were lost.

Left-hander Jaiswal was atypical aggressive in India’s second innings when faced with the deficit. His first chance, on 20, was difficult because Brook’s bowling partner, Atkinson, had a high edge at second slip. Dawson lost track of the ball when Dawson hit the long leg off Tongue on 40, which was supposed to have been swallowed.

When third slip Crawley missed Sudharsan’s sharp edge off Overton, England was dwindling toward chaos, but Atkinson responded with a shooter that gave him a leg-before-decided result. As he left, Sudharsan appeared to have spoken to the England players.