Day 4 at The Oval ended in an enthralling manner with England on the cusp of victory, just 35 short of the target of 374 runs needed to win. However, they have just four more wickets remaining with Jamie Overton and Jamie Smith looking iffy with the bat.
The two added just two runs in 20 balls with rain pouring down in the final hour of the day’s play. The continuous rain meant that the players were forced to leave the pitch. The rain stopped, but the play was called off as the ground staff could not have managed the game restart before the scheduled close of play.
The day’s play was dictated by Harry Brook and Joe Root, who scored centuries and added a 195-run stand. It was their partnership that brought England back into the game after they lost wickets of Ben Duckett (54 runs off 83 balls) and Ollie Pope (27 runs off 34 balls). Root scored his 39th Test ton and his third of the series.
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Joe Root's 39th Test Ton Headlines Day 4 At The Oval
England started the day on 50 runs for the loss of one wicket and at stumps were 339 runs for the loss of six wickets. The hosts scored 289 runs for the loss of four wickets. The match was stopped due to bad light with victory in sight for England.
However, things got a lot tighter in the final session and especially just after tea, with England losing Joe Root (105 runs off 152 balls) and Jacob Bethell ( 5 runs off 31 balls). Previous Brook’s counter-attacking innings helped England gain the advantage in the game in the middle-session.
Things could have been a lot different for India, had Md Siraj managed to take the catch at fine leg off the bowling of Prasidh Krishna. Brook started attacking India after the drop catch and got to his century in 98 balls. He was ultimately dismissed for 111 runs, but by then had managed to drag the game in England’s favour.
Krishna ended the day with three wickets for India. He could have had four had Siraj caught Brook. Siraj himself took just one wicket in the day’s play which was that of Pope. His dismissal was almost identical to how he was dismissed in the first innings, with the ball coming back in sharply. Akash Deep dismissed Brook soon after his century as he was eventually caught by Siraj. Mohammed Siraj bowled wholeheartedly throughout the day for his team but just had one wicket to show for his efforts.
Also Read: Eng vs Ind: Yashasvi Jaiswal Lights Up The Oval with a Stunning Century Before His Family
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India Still Alive But Just
Quick wickets of Root and Bethell helped India get back into the game, with England needing just over 40 runs. The old ball started to reverse swing with Smith and Overton findling it difficult to negotiate the Indian bowlers. Just when it looked like the match is drawing to a close finish, rain played spoilsport and managed to drag the final Test to the last day. Every Test match so far has gone onto the last day, including the final one at The Oval. It is still anybody’s game with the last-minute rain managing to keep India alive in the game.
Also Read: England vs India 5th Test: Jaiswal’s Century, Akash Deep’s Fifty Set Up Big Lead on Day 3
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