Siraj strikes as India fight back in England finale

eNCA

6 days ago

Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna both took three wickets as India fought back in the fifth and deciding Test at the Oval on Friday.
England were 129-1 in reply to India's 224 all out as they threatened to build a substantial first-innings lead.
But at tea on the second day they had slumped to 215-7 after Krishna took two wickets in the last over of the session.
Siraj, an ever-present throughout a gruelling campaign, had figures of 3-66 in 12 overs and fellow paceman Krishna 3-51 in 11.5 in a match India must win to end the series level at 2-2.
AFP | HENRY NICHOLLS
Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett shared a blistering first-wicket stand of 92 in just 13 overs after England paceman Gus Atkinson marked his return to Test cricket with a five-wicket haul.
But both openers fell either side of lunch before stand-in England captain Ollie Pope, leading the side in place of the injured Ben Stokes, was lbw to Siraj for 22.
Crawley and Duckett punished an attack without Jasprit Bumrah after India stuck with a plan to only deploy the world's top-ranked Test bowler in three matches -- a figure he reached during last week's draw at Old Trafford -- of this series to protect a back injury.
The England duo dominated India's attack with a blizzard of boundaries before India's Akash Deep sparked the latest flare-up of a fractious series after he had Duckett caught behind for 43 off an attempted scoop.
Deep put his arm round the unimpressed batsman's shoulder and appeared to say a few words as Duckett walked off.
India's KL Rahul pulled Deep away from Duckett before the bowler could say anything else.
This incident came after India captain Shubman Gill accused England of ignoring the "spirit of cricket" with time-wasting tactics in the third Test at Lord's.
England were then angered by the India's decision to bat on at Old Trafford rather than agree a draw as soon as possible.
- Siraj stars -
Ater Duckett's exit, Crawley holed out off a miscued pull against Krishna for 64, with 56 of those runs coming in boundaries.
Joe Root, second in the all-time list of Test match run scorers, could only manage 29 before he was lbw to Siraj.
And when Siraj had Jacob Bethell lbw as the all-rounder played down the wrong line, England were 195-5.
Jamie Smith then saw his edged drive off Krishna well caught by Rahul at second slip.
Four balls later Jamie Overton was plumb lbw to Krishna for a duck, continuing a miserable return to Test cricket after the paceman's erratic bowling on Thursday.
England suffered a setback before Friday's play, with Chris Woakes effectively ruled out of the rest of the match after suffering a shoulder injury when diving in an attempt to prevent a boundary on Thursday.
AFP | HENRY NICHOLLS
But Atkinson responded with a superb return of 5-33 in 21.4 overs after striking twice on Thursday, when he also ran out the in-form Gill.
The 27-year-old's fourth five-wicket haul in just 13 Tests was all the more creditable as this was Atkinson's first senior match since being sidelined with hamstring trouble following a one-off Test against Zimbabwe in May.
India, who resumed on 204-6, lost their last four wickets for just 20 more runs in 5.4 overs on Friday.
Karun Nair, 52 not out overnight, had added just five runs to his innings top-score when he was plumb lbw to Josh Tongue.
Washington Sundar, fresh from a maiden Test century at Old Trafford, sank to his knees after falling for 26 when hooking Atkinson to deep square leg, before the local hero polished off the tail.
By Julian Guyer