Siraj Secures a Famous Win

With just three full days’ break between the Old Trafford Test and the decider at The Oval, this gripping, gruelling series headed for its climax. But both sides were missing some key players through injury and the wear-and-tear brought on by a contest in which all four Tests had gone on to late in the fifth day, and where bowlers had had to work exceptionally hard for their wickets. This was a series that would set a new record for the highest aggregate of runs scored in a five-match contest. England made four changes: Ben Stokes’s heroics had caught up with him, and he was not deemed fit to play, so Ollie Pope stepped up as captain, and Jacob Bethell came in at No 6 instead, despite having played just one first-class game in 2025. Unsurprisingly, Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse were rested, while Liam Dawson’s return to the Test side was a brief one, as he was dropped, which meant Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton (both of Surrey, so with home knowledge of the pitch) and Josh Tongue replacing them.

For India, the selectors kept to their word that Jasprit Bumrah would play no more than three Tests, and he was rested, with Akash Deep coming in. Rishabh Pant was unable to recover from his injury, so Dhruv Jurel replaced him as keeper. Shardul Thakur and Anshul Kamboj were also left out with Karun Nair and Prasidh Krishna taking their places. For the 15th consecutive match, India lost the toss and Pope, looking at the overcast conditions and a green-tinged pitch, followed the recent trend and chose to field.

It didn’t take long for the decision to pay off, as in Atkinson’s second over he trapped Yashasvi Jaiswal in front; the umpire didn’t give it and at the 13th time of asking as captain Pope got a DRS review decision in his favour. The ball was swinging in the gloomy conditions, but it was an inside edge that proved the downfall for K.L.Rahul off the bowling of Chris Woakes. That wicket brought Shubman Gill out to join Sai Sudharsan, and the pair took India to an early lunch with the score on 72 for two, after both Tongue (who started with a nine-ball over) and Overton (who bowled too short) failed to sustain the early pressure.

There was an extended lunch break due to the rain, and play didn’t resume until three in the afternoon. The third-wicket partnership came to a surprise end when Gill tried to pinch a quick single, but it was too close to Atkinson the bowler, who threw down the wicket with Gill not even in the frame to bring Nair out to bat. Another rain break, with the score on 85 for three, interrupted proceedings.

When they came out for the evening session the sun was shining at last. Sudharsan’s gritty innings of 38 came to an end when Tongue bowled a beauty to find the outside edge, which went through to Jamie Smith behind the stumps. Ravindra Jadeja has been a thorn in England’s side all summer, but not this time as he fell in an almost identical fashion, edging Tongue to Smith and India were 123 for five. Jurel was next to try his luck. Having had an LBW decision against him overturned by DRS, Jurel followed it up immediately by a waft outside off which was edged through to Harry Brook, who made no mistake to give Atkinson his second wicket. After his century at Old Trafford, Washington Sundar probably felt he was unlucky to be coming in at No 8, but he gave Nair good support.

There was serious concern for England when Woakes hurt his shoulder badly when diving to prevent a boundary, and he left the ground in clear pain. Nair brought up his fifty off 89 balls. Just before the close the pair completed their fifty partnership in 76 balls, and the day ended with India on 204 for six. England’s bowlers hadn’t taken full advantage of the conditions, but we waited to see if this was a good score or not. With Woakes unable to bowl, England would have been concerned that they had just three seamers, one of whom was undercooked (Overton had figures of two for 267 in four matches since the start of 2024), and no specialist spinner.

England’s three remaining seamers needed to finish off the job as quickly as possible on Day Two. After Tongue had sprayed a few around, he trapped Nair in front for 57, then Washington pulled one from Atkinson to Overton in the deep. Next Atkinson castled Mohammed Siraj for a duck and followed it up by removing Krishna for nought. England had picked up the last four wickets for just 6 runs, and India were all out for 224. Atkinson finished up with five for 33.

In the most bowler-friendly conditions of the summer, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett must have been concerned about the challenges ahead, but if that was the case Crawley didn’t respond in kind, hitting three of his first nine deliveries to the boundary, while Duckett’s first boundary was a reverse scoop for six. The fifty partnership took only 42 balls to arrive – opening the batting against top bowlers with a new ball in hand in helpful conditions is supposed to hard work; this pair made it look all too easy. Deep finally accounted for Duckett, caught behind on 43, but not from an edge – instead it was a mistimed reverse sweep. England were 92 for one in the 13th over. It meant this pair had put on 539 in their opening partnerships across the series, the first opening pair to score 500+ runs in a series since David Warner and Joe Burns made 547 v New Zealand in 2015, and the first England pair to do it since Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss in 2010-11. Crawley then went to his fifty off 42 balls, and at lunch England were 109 for one.

Soon after the afternoon session began, Pope was dropped in the cordon. Krishna then induced Crawley to mistime a pull shot and Jadeja caught him for 64 at square leg. Siraj got one to jag back, and although the umpire turned down the appeal, DRS showed it crashing into Pope’s leg stump. Second ball, Brook charged down the pitch and had a wild slog that he edged down to fine leg; his eighth ball was another slog that looped up to extra cover, but that escape seemed to settle him. He and Joe Root brought the deficit under 50, but then Siraj got one to scoot through to trap Root LBW for 29. Bethell moved slightly leaden-footed to a good Yorker from Siraj, and was LBW; in truth, too much was expected of a player with one first-class match behind him this summer and a highest score of 36 not out in all forms of cricket since May. Smith played loosely outside off and edged to Rahul off Krishna. Overton, a more than capable batter, also looked heavy on his feet when LBW without scoring. So at tea it was 215 for seven.

Straight after the break, Atkinson could have been caught and bowled, but Siraj put down a tough chance, then a mistimed pull ended up in mid-on’s hands to give Krishna his fourth wicket. Brook went to fifty off 57 balls, but was bowled by Siraj for 53. England were all out for 247 after just 51.2 overs, a lead of only 23, and you rather felt that – well though India had bowled – England had given away a huge opportunity to take control of the match, and now their weary, under-cooked, under-manned attack was back in the field for a second time in the day.

England had 100 minutes to pile on the pressure, while India knew they could make an early statement. Jaiswal hit five fours in his first 15 balls, but his sixth boundary three balls later went through the hands of Brook to do so. Rahul prodded at one from Tongue and Root did the rest, but India were already 46 for one. Tongue nearly had a second, when Jaiswal pulled one down to fine leg, where substitute Liam Dawson appeared bamboozled by the ball and put down the regulation chance. Having also dropped one in the previous Test, it’s fair to say his efforts in the field won’t encourage the selectors to send him to Australia. Next it was Crawley dropping Sudharsan at third slip, another catch you’d expect to be taken. Jaiswal ramped Overton for six to bring up his fifty in just 44 balls. Just before the close Atkinson had Sudharsan plumb in front, leaving Deep to bat out the last few minutes and the day ended with India on 75 for two.

The game was intriguingly balanced at the start of Day Three. Nightwatchman Deep came out swinging the bat to frustrate England, but it was noticeable that batting seemed that little bit easier, too. So when umpire Ahsan Raza turned down an LBW shout and DRS went with the umpire’s call and Deep was dropped by Crawley, two key moments in the first 30 minutes had gone India’s way. It was the fourth drop in 25.2 overs. The fifty partnership arrived after 74 balls, and the lead soon went past 100. Deep’s confidence was growing and he hurried to his first Test fifty with a heave to square leg off only 70 balls. The hundred partnership took 145 balls, and England looked truly rattled as the lead went past 150. Finally, England made the breakthrough, with Overton banging it in and Atkinson diving forward to take a good catch to remove Deep for 66, his highest score in all first-class cricket. At lunch it was 189 for three, a lead of 166; India were on top.

England needed to find something in the afternoon session, and they got off to the perfect start when Atkinson had Gill LBW first ball. Gill had made a mammoth 754 runs in the series, with only Sunil Gavaskar ahead of him for India (scoring 774 against the West Indies in 1970-71). Jaiswal went to his fourth hundred against England off just 127 balls. With 72% of his runs coming behind square on the off-side, it suggested England need to pitch the ball up and give him no width. With the lead just over 200, Brook dropped England’s fifth catch in the innings (the toughest of all of them so far). It didn’t cost too many, as Atkinson got one to rear up at Nair and the edge flew to Smith: 229 for five.

England weren’t done with the drops, as Duckett had an even trickier one at leg slip but Jaiswal’s charmed life continued. England’s bowlers continued to spray it all around, with Overton bowling wide outside the off when he had six fielders on the leg, and Tongue firing it wide down the leg, beyond Smith, who gave away 25 byes in the match without having much chance with any of them. Finally, Tongue struck when Jaiswal was caught on the third man boundary; he was out for 118, but the lead was now 250. With the new ball looming, England turned to Root rather than Bethell to spare the tiring seamers. The highest successful run chase at The Oval was 263 in Jessop’s match in 1902, and now England knew they would have to break that record to win. At tea, India were 304 for six.

Early in the evening session, Jadeja and Jurel completed their fifty partnership off 71 balls. Jurel was LBW to Overton, but England’s job wasn’t done as Jadeja and Washington had both scored hundreds in the previous Test. Jadeja scored yet another fifty, this time off 71 balls. Tongue removed Jadeja for 53, caught by Brook at second slip. Siraj was LBW to Tongue third ball, with the umpire not spotting the faintest of inside edges, but India had used up all their reviews. At 357 for nine, England thought their pain was nearly over, but  Washington launched the most extraordinary assault, hitting four sixes and bringing up his fifty with one of them off 39 balls (with 35 runs coming off the last 12 of them). It was some weary bowling, as Krishna faced only two balls of the 25-ball partnership, but finally Washington was caught at mid-wicket. India were all out for 396, with Tongue finishing up with five for 125.

With two days and 67 minutes to bat, England had a hefty target of 374 to chase down but the pitch certainly looked easier now than it had in the first innings. There was also the fact that India also had only three seamers, so could England wear them down? By contrast to the first innings, Crawley and Duckett were somewhat circumspect, but India bowled well, they found some uneven bounce and had plenty of cover on the boundaries. The fifty partnership took an unusually long 79 balls to arrive, and in the final over of the day Siraj bowled a beautiful Yorker to castle Crawley and the day ended with England on 50 for one.

At the start of Day Four, WinViz had England on a 21% chance of winning, with the draw at 1-2%. When Duckett played and missed five times in a Siraj over, it was clear that nothing was going to come easily for England. But Duckett survived and went to his fifty in 76 balls, however that was pretty much it as he edged Krishna to Raul in the slips soon after. After the drinks break, Pope and Root managed to find some runs before Siraj once again trapped Pope plumb in front; the England skipper has a very disappointing record in the fourth innings of matches, and a score of 27 wasn’t going to change that. The partnership of Root and Brook was going to be vital if England were to have any chance. Brook, on 19, tried to hurry things along and lofted one down to fine leg where Siraj took the catch then stepped over the boundary rope to make it a six instead. It felt like it might be a turning point, especially as it meant he had scored 17 runs in four balls, as the pair raced to their fifty partnership in only 48 balls. At lunch it was 164 for three, with Brook motoring.

At the start of the afternoon session, England still needed 210 runs and WinViz had moved slightly back in England’s favour, but India remained firm favourites. Brook went to fifty in only 39 balls, as India began to wilt and were forced to turn to spin. The Yorkshire pair brought up their hundred partnership in 108 balls, by which stage England needed 168 runs. Root nudged the ball off his hip to bring up his fifty in 81 balls. A Brook pull through mid-wicket completed the 150 partnership in 164 balls, and it felt as though Gill and his bowlers had no answer. Brook then went to his tenth Test hundred, off a remarkable 91 balls, and England now needed only 89 runs. Having just taken the score past 300, Brook tried one big shot too many as he lobbed one up to extra-cover while his bat flew out of his hands in the opposite direction. He was out for 111 and it was 301 for four. Was there now a way back for India? Certainly, India began to up their intensity, but there were no further wickets by tea, when the score was 317 for four.

England started the session needing 57 more runs, and then Root completed his 39th Test century, off 137 balls, it was his 13th against India (meaning that he had equalled Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 13 against a single opponent, other than in the Ashes), his third at The Oval, and his third in the fourth innings of a match. Meanwhile, at the other end, Bethell was struggling, having managed to score just a single in his first 23 balls. Inexplicably, a few balls later, he charged down the wicket to Krishna, got a faint inside edge which cannoned into his middle stump. The run rate had slowed down and India were bowling well, but it was so unnecessary. India’s bowlers and their fans in the stands scented blood, with Siraj peppering Root’s front pad. But it was Krishna who did for him, as Root nibbled at one which was caught by Jurel and he was out for 105. England still needed 37. Smith and Overton seemed unable to lay a bat on it, as the drama, intensity and noise from the crowd went up almost ball by ball. Just as it seemed that it couldn’t get any more tense, bad light and then heavy rain brought the day’s proceedings to a close, with England on 339 for six.

The final morning didn’t lessen any of the intensity, and it began with successive boundaries to Overton, but in the next over Smith edged Siraj through to Jurel to bring out Atkinson. With the target only 20, Overton was LBW to Siraj and then, with the scoreboard barely moving, Tongue was bowled by Krishna. England were 357 for nine, and Woakes, his left arm in a sling came out to join Atkinson in the hope they could muster the 17 runs still needed. Fortunately, it was the end of the over, so Atkinson was on strike. A heave over mid-wicket was almost caught but went for six instead, and Atkinson farmed the strike for two overs, so that Woakes never faced a ball, but he couldn’t keep out one from Siraj, England were all out for 367 and India had won by 6 runs – it was their narrowest ever winning margin, with only seven wins by fewer runs in Test history.

It was hard to argue with the series outcome of 2-2, as both sides had fought hard and dug deep throughout. Siraj was unsurprisingly voted Man of the Match, having finished with figures of five for 104 in 30.1 overs of consistently challenging bowling, while Gill and Brook were named Men of the Series. Nine batters had scored 400+ runs in the series and 11 had averaged at least 40, which told a story of how the bat had dominated the ball throughout. As for this match, if England’s selectors could have their time again, I wonder if they would still pick two players in Bethell and Overton with so little cricket behind them? But this is a small quibble after a truly unforgettable match.