Erratic England hand India advantage in Oval Test as Yashasvi Jaiswal leads batting masterclass
England had a horrendous day in the field as they dropped six chances in the innings. India powered to 396 on the third day as they set England a target of 374 to win, aiming to level the series 2-2.
Siraj, playing his fifth match of the series, then yorked Zak Crawley for 14 with just two balls left in the day's play to put India on top.
England were 50-1 at stumps, still requiring a further 324 runs to win, with Ben Duckett 34 not out.
The highest successful run chase at the venue is England's 263 in a one-wicket victory over Australia back in 1902.
However, the most England have made to win any Test in the fourth innings is 378 against India at Edgbaston in 2022, while they also chased down 371 at Headingley in the opening match of this series.
But the wicket in the fifth Test is proving to be challenging, with the ball rising alarmingly, hitting the batters and also staying low. The seamers are also enjoying movement in the air with the old ball.
All of which made Jaiswal's ton even more special. The left-hander made 118, his second hundred of the series after his ton at Headingley.
The 23-year-old opener received superb support from Akash Deep in a third-wicket partnership of 107, the pacer belying his status as a nightwatchman with an accomplished 66 – his first Test fifty.
Ravindra Jadeja and Sundar, both fresh from hundreds in the drawn Manchester Test, made 53 apiece, with Sundar launching a brutal assault after a depleted England took the new ball.
England, a bowler down after Chris Woakes suffered a shoulder injury, made things difficult for themselves by dropping six catches in the innings, with Jaiswal reprieved three times.
Deep had made 21 when he edged Josh Tongue only for Crawley, diving across to his left from third slip, to floor the two-handed catch.
Deep went to fifty when he pulled Gus Atkinson for his ninth four.
With India on the verge of batting through the morning session without losing a wicket, Deep got a leading edge to backward point off Jamie Overton.
Shubman Gill fell to the very first ball after lunch – lbw to Gus Atkinson for 11.
Gill fell 20 runs short of Sunil Gavaskar's long-standing record for the most runs by an Indian cricketer in a Test series of 774, set against the West Indies in 1971.
Gill made 754 runs at a superb average of 75, including four hundreds.
Jaiswal's quick single off Atkinson took him to a 127-ball century, including 12 fours and two sixes.
England dropped a sixth catch when, having set a trap to have Jaiswal taken at leg gully, the batsman duly obliged, only for Duckett to put him down off Overton.
Jaiswal was eventually dismissed when he ramped Tongue straight to deep backward point before Jadeja completed his fifth fifty of the series in 71 balls.
England took the new ball with India 342-7 and tried to bounce out Sundar in what proved to be an expensive ploy.
The left-hander responded with three superb sixes, including hoisting Tongue, who finished with figures of 5-125, over fine leg and deep midwicket.
Sundar then smashed two fours and a soaring six over midwicket off three successive Atkinson deliveries to complete a 39-ball fifty.
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