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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Brendon McCullum's era is still lacking a prize scalp as England come up short again, writes LAWRENCE BOOTH - after India fight back to deserved draw
A series that has given us everything was never going to end any other way. With England needing seven to win — or six for the tie that would have secured the series — Gus Atkinson swung for glory and lost his off stump to Mohammed Siraj, India 's bowling hero of an astonishing few weeks. At the other end was Chris Woakes, his left arm in a sling to protect a dislocated shoulder and a symbol of England's desperation for victory. Even without facing a ball, he felt as central a protagonist as anyone. A quarter of an hour earlier, Woakes walked out to a standing ovation from a crowd of 25,000, who had all turned up just to be able to say: 'I was there.' Now, the applause rang out for India and for Siraj, a 2–2 draw plucked from the fire. The Oval has rarely witnessed scenes like it. Even the workmen building luxury apartments in the famous gasholders downed tools to watch. The decisive exchanges of the inaugural Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy had been condensed into less than an hour on an overcast final morning, the 25th day of the 25 scheduled. The equation was simple — England needed 35 runs, India four wickets, though with the caveat that Woakes would be no more than a non-striker. When Jamie Overton pulled and inside-edged the day's first two balls for four, home hopes grew. But Siraj is a warrior of a fast bowler, armed with the skills of a surgeon. He had Jamie Smith caught behind from the third ball of the second over, then won a marginal lbw decision against Overton, with England still 20 short. Three runs later, Prasidh Krishna bowled Josh Tongue for a duck, leaving India on the brink of victory. Out walked Woakes, a spine-tingling moment acknowledged by both sets of fans and pre-destined to go down as one of cricket's bravest acts, whatever the result. Gus Atkinson swung Siraj for six, the ball tipped over the ropes by a diving Akash Deep, then pinched a bye as Woakes grimaced in pain. Even the act of running was agony. Goodness knows what would have happened had he been required to take strike. With 10 needed, Atkinson pulled Krishna for two, before once more pinching the strike. Siraj, though, was a man possessed and produced a perfect full-length delivery that dipped under Atkinson's legside mow. As India celebrated the narrowest win in their Test history, it was impossible to deny that a drawn series was the fairest result. The tourists had chances to win both the games they lost, at Headingley and Lord's, and in Siraj had the only seamer who lasted all five Tests. So much for Jasprit Bumrah, whose three games coincided with two England wins and a draw. In the games he played, Siraj took seven wickets at 61. In the two he missed, Siraj took 16 at 19, relishing the extra burden. Last man out during India's 22-run defeat at Lord's, he then dropped Harry Brook early in his 195-run stand with Joe Root on the third afternoon at the Oval. Instead, he will be remembered for his five-for here and 23 wickets in all, four clear of anyone else. The line between hero and villain can be perilously thin. It seems harsh to ask what went wrong for England when six more runs would have spawned questions about what went right. In one sense, their narrow defeat counts among their most heroic failures, given the absence of Ben Stokes just as he threatened to peak in Manchester, and the injury to Woakes, which left England's three inexperienced seamers with too much to do. Yet they will also know that, at 301 for three, with Brook and Root batting beautifully and India losing heart, a target of 374 was within reach. To lose seven for 66 reflected poorly on some of the shot selection — not least by Jacob Bethell and Smith — as much as it reflected well on India's seamers. The nature of narrow defeats is such that every passage of play attracts greater scrutiny in hindsight. What might have happened had England not dropped six catches, or Tongue had not conceded 11 wides in his first over, or Washington Sundar had not squeezed 39 out of India's last wicket? The ifs and buts will linger for a while, for England came within a whisker of the prize scalp the Bazball era has craved. Thanks to the Manchester rain in 2023, and India's fightback here, their two home series against Australia and India under Brendon McCullum have finished all square. Their record under Stokes and McCullum remains strong, but Bazball's critics — mainly in Australia and India, though plenty in England — will not take them seriously until they beat one of the other members of the so-called Big Three. The stakes going into this winter's Ashes are considerably higher than if they had won 3–1. This series, at least, has allowed them to make a call on a few fringe players. Liam Dawson and Overton look out of the reckoning, while Woakes — 37 before the start of the next home summer — may have played his final Test. But some questions remain unresolved. Ollie Pope, captain in this game, averaged just 34 in a series so batsman-friendly that 12 different players totalled 21 centuries, including seven between Shubman Gill and Root alone. Zak Crawley averaged 32, but while his place is protected in part by his opening partnership with Ben Duckett, Pope has no such security blanket. Despite his double failure here, Bethell must come into the mix for Australia. As ever, much will come down to the fitness of Stokes, who won the man of the match awards at Lord's and Old Trafford and balanced the line-up in a manner beyond any other player. The first half of England's defining year has ended in disappointment, but not defeat. The second will provide a clearer picture.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ben Stokes hails Chris Woakes' one-armed effort in dramatic defeat to India
Ben Stokes paid tribute to the bravery of Chris Woakes as a series during which players battled at various stages through broken feet and shattered fingers ended with a one‑armed man at the crease, his other arm in a sling, enduring obvious agony as England fell seven runs short of victory. Stokes said: 'That never-say-die, never-back-down attitude we've installed in the group nearly paid off. It was never going to be a question for him to go out there. He was in a lot of discomfort even running between the wickets. 'But we've had Rishabh Pant go out to bat with a broken foot, we've had Shoaib Bashir bowling, batting and fielding with a broken finger and then we had Chris go out there and try and get his team over the line with a quite recently dislocated shoulder. 'Before he went out I didn't get a chance to give him a tap on the back and say: 'Go well.' Coming off it's obvious what would have been said, just: 'Great effort, unbelievable.' He just shrugged his shoulder and said: 'I wouldn't do anything else.'' Stokes, who was ruled out of the game with a shoulder injury of his own, pinpointed when Woakes went down on the opening day as the moment that decided the match – 'It took, I don't know, half a second for a shoulder to pop out and everything just completely changed for us there' – but the captain admitted that the six catches England dropped during India's second innings had not helped. 'You could say those chances we put down did cost us, but back to Headingley where we chased down those runs, India dropped quite a few chances and that probably did contribute to us winning. Maybe if we did hold on to those chances, things could have been a little bit different.' Though the game ended in defeat in the adversity of playing most of it a man down, Stokes felt certain players demonstrated previously unknown courage. 'Some guys will leave this series having found out a lot more about themselves,' he said. 'In particular, with Woakesy going down early on, the responsibility that fell on Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue and Jamie Overton's shoulders – their roles completely changed from why they were selected, the impact we thought they would have on the game. They had to dig deep. I think a couple of guys have found out more about themselves in a very, very positive way. 'They took that responsibility on without adding pressure to themselves. They did that in a way of pride – one of the boys has gone down and we're going to have to take on that workload. Some people would shy away from that and be worried about what it means for them. They showed a lot of courage, a lot of heart. They can be very proud of the way they threw themselves into that.' After an appropriately, brutally tense conclusion on its 25th day the series will be remembered as a classic, with Stokes admitting the final scoreline of 2-2 was 'probably fair'. He said: 'There's that disappointment and frustration, not to have got the result that gives us the series win, but this series has been fantastic to be a part of. 'It's been full of ups and downs, ebbs and flows, throughout every game. India have been in control, we've been in control, it's gone back to them and then it's come back to us. To be a part of it has been pretty special. 'There is still that disappointment, but for the wider game, and we want to constantly be promoting the game, this series has been great.' At the end of his first series as India's captain, to which he contributed 754 runs and four centuries, Shubman Gill said its – and his own – vacillating fortunes had demonstrated 'how the game of life works'. He said: 'There are moments like this where you feel the journey is worth it. There've been a lot of highs and lows and that's kind of expected in sport. 'Every time you go into bat you want to perform, you want to score a century, but that's not how the game of life works. You should be able to navigate through the highs and lows of life and stay balanced. I want to stay balanced whether we've won the match, lost the match, I've done well or not well. 'This morning summarised what this team's all about. The way Brook and Root were going [on Sunday], not many teams in the world would have given themselves a chance, but this team believes that whenever we have an opening we can get through that opening. 'That's what we were saying once Brook was out – this was our opening and you never know.'
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Chris Woakes comes out to bat with dislocated shoulder in tense England-India finale
Chris Woakes made a heroic appearance with his dislocated shoulder in a sling as England and India took their five-match series to the wire at The Oval, but he could not deny the tourists victory. Woakes, who had not featured since badly damaging his left shoulder while fielding on Thursday, was ruled out of the game the next morning but remained with the team and was willing to bat at No 11. England began the final day's play needing 35 runs to win the Test and the series, while India chased four more wickets. And the visitors quickly picked off Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue, forcing Woakes to the crease. Woakes held his arm in his jumper and grimaced as he ran between the wickets, supporting Gus Atkinson 's efforts to get England over the winning line without facing a ball. 'Apparently Chris Woakes went for a hit yesterday to see what he can and can't do,' Alastair Cook said on BBC Radio 5 Live. 'He is batting one handed.' Phil Tuffnell added: 'As Indian bowlers you go at Chris Woakes. You go for the throat. If you cross the white line you're in the field of play.' But Woakes could not prevent defeat as Mohammed Siraj bowled Atkinson to clinch a six-run victory, and draw the series 2-2. After play ended early on Sunday evening, Joe Root had said of Woakes: 'He's all in, like the rest of us. Clearly, he's in a huge amount of pain. But it means a huge amount to him and it just shows the character and the person that he is, that he's willing to put his body on the line like that for England.'
