England vs India fourth Test, day five: Score and latest updates
27 July 2025 9:56am
9:54AM
Kevin Pietersen is wrong to say batting was harder 20 years ago
Kevin Pietersen did not often bowl, although he first came to English attention when he represented KwaZulu-Natal as an off-spinner on England's 1999-2000 tour of South Africa, but he has delivered some bouncers at Joe Root.
Root in the course of his 150 at Old Trafford rose to second place in the all-time list of Test run-scorers. But this was not enough to impress Pietersen. Far from it. He declared, like a real old-timer, that batting was twice as hard back in his day.
'Don't shout at me but batting these days is way easier than 20/25 years ago!' Pietersen posted on X. 'Probably twice as hard back then.'
9:53AM
Nation prays for Stokes' hamstring as India dig in
Just like Denis Compton's right knee or David Beckham's metatarsal, Ben Stokes's hamstring will have a nation holding its breath this winter.
Can he stay fit and play his full part as an all-rounder, firstly to finish off the fourth Test against India, and then carry England home in Australia? If the answer is no, then their hopes fade to black.
After dominating with bat and ball for three days - becoming only the fourth England player to score a century and take a five-for in the same match - Stokes spent two session directing the traffic as India rallied.
Without his bowling, England's attack was toothless once Shubman Gill and KL Rahul started the fightback and the shine went off the new ball. England ran out of ideas and Stokes, the series' leading wicket-taker, did not bowl a ball despite being in his best form as a bowler for eight years.
9:43AM
Good morning
Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport's live, over-by-over coverage of the final day of the Old Trafford Test between England and India. It's the fourth Test in a row that has gone to the final day, and we shouldn't be surprised if it goes to the final hour. Rain is forecast either side of lunch so England could find themselves in a race against time to seal a series victory.
India will resume on 174 for 2, a deficit of 137, after a wonderfully defiant partnership between KL Rahul and Shubman Gill. They came together at 0 for 2, with India in disarray and Chris Woakes on a hat-trick. But they played will skill, courage and an even temper to bat throughout the last two sessions. They were rewarded for surviving a fiendish new-ball spell from Woakes and Jofra Archer with increasingly benign conditions. Rahul and Gill have been together for 62.2 overs, India's longest partnership in a Test in England since 2002.
The second new ball, due in 17 overs, can't come soon enough for England. They sorely missed Ben Stokes' ability to abracadabra a wicket with the old ball; he did not bowl due to an unspecified injury, possibly to a hamstring, and will be assessed this morning.
'We're hoping so [that Stokes is fit to bowl]. He's a bit stiff and sore,' England's assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said 'He's had quite a big workload in the last few weeks... we're hoping that with another night's rest and a bit more physio work overnight that he'll be back and doing a bit.'
England will have the option of resting Stokes for the final Test at the Oval - but only if they get the job done today. If not, India will return to London with the chance of a 2-2 series draw. For England, given the position they were in at lunchtime yesterday, that scenario is unthinkable.
Ben Stokes hits century but Shubman Gill & KL Rahul put up India resistance 🏴 🇮🇳 #LateCut pic.twitter.com/OcqcMC6o3r
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 26, 2025
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There is light rain falling and the ball is getting a bit greasy making life very hard for the spinners. The target now 100 for England with seven wickets in hand. Root and Brook look very calm and Jadeja is moving his field. He's brought mid-on up and Siraj gets a big ironic cheer for a bit of clean fielding out in the deep. The ball slips out of Jadeja's hand and Root hits it one-handed for four. Ninety-five to win now. Root and Brook very happy to milk the spinners, no need to do anything overly aggressive. This is a real test of Gill's captaincy — what does he do? He probably needs to bring his fielders up or these two will just milk away with only 109 needed to win now. The crowd are on their feet again, this time for the 150 partnership from just 164 balls. India look demoralised. Accuweather, which is the cricket journalist's weather app of choice (and no I am not on commission) says that rain will arrive in 20 minutes but won't last long. It is very gloomy here, but no one in the crowd is putting their pullovers or anoraks on. Ravindra Jadeja has come on to bowl and Root immediately takes him on for an aggressive boundary. Root is such a good player of spin and this is a high-risk strategy for India, but the seamers are tired so they've not got loads of choice. That's drinks. The partnership is now worth 133 and England are going along at 4½ an over; they need just another 135 runs. India are looking flat and out of ideas in the field. Fifty for Joe Root from 81 balls. That's his 67th Test fifty in 158 matches. India have asked to have the ball changed but it's gone through the gauge so we're carrying on with this one. Twelve runs off the 48th over bowled by Deep and England now need just over 150 to win. It's got very, very gloomy at The Oval but it's dry. The boffins at CricViz are telling us that there has been less swing today than the previous three days. That's the 100 partnership from 108 balls. The atmosphere at The Oval is raucous and will get louder and louder with every run. That's 200 up for England and they get a standing ovation for it. No one has stayed on the concourse after lunch, they all want to be in their seats for this. If England manage this, it will be a much more significant run chase than the ones at Headingley earlier this series or against India at Edgbaston in 2022. Both of those victories came on considerably flatter pitches and in much better batting conditions. Washington Sundar is coming into the attack from the Vauxhall End; he has been such a good asset to India this series with both bat and ball — a very handy replacement for the retired Ashwin. The pitch has done nothing for the spinners all match but Sundar gets a bit of drift. By the way… England have moved to 8/11 odds-on favourites to win the match on some of the betting markets. England are half way to their total and Finchy, the trumpeter, leads the crowd in a rendition of Livin' on a prayer. Whoaaaa we're halfway there etc. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Harry Brook's fifty is a rapid one, coming off just 39 balls. It's his 14th Test fifty in 30 matches. There's a lovely contrast between the way these two are playing. Root is being Root and Brook is being Brook — 'you do you' is England's mantra. The runs required for England is now below 200 with Harry Brook starting the afternoon session where he left off. Eleven scored off the first over after lunch. Everyone is fed and watered, The Oval DJ has stopped playing Oasis songs, and it will be Harry Brook who takes strike to Prasidh. This is a longer session with tea scheduled for 3.55pm. If England carry on at four an over they'll have this won with several overs to spare today; there are 73 overs left in the day. That is lunch and both sides will be OK with how the morning session went. England have added 114 runs and India have taken two wickets. India have bowled very well for the most part, hitting the perfect lengths to get the ball moving and England need another 210 to win. Akash Deep has the ball drilled straight back into his shin by Brook. He's in some pain but carrying on. Looked like it hurt a lot though. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Brook has decided that he's playing in one-day mode. It's high-risk stuff, although he's just played a lovely back-foot drive that was very classical in nature. I think Brook is my favourite England player to watch; you never quite know what you're going to get, but it's usually great fun. Brook has taken Prasidh for 16 runs off that over. England have scored over 100 runs so far in the session. Oh no — the India fans go mad because they think Brook has been caught by Siraj on the boundary, but the India bowler at fine leg steps over the rope and it's gone for six. Huge slice of luck for Brook. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. The world No1 and No3 ranked batsmen in the world at the crease and Brook has just taken Deep for a four and six in consecutive balls. You can't take your eyes off this. Another glorious drive by Root through the covers for four and that brings the runs required below 250. There's a long, long way to go still. England are going along at 3.8 an over. When England chased down 378 against India at Edgbaston in 2022 they were 107 for three before Root and Bairstow put on an amazing partnership to win the game. Could we see something similar from Root and Brook today? And now Pope is given out leg-before. He's been completely undone by a full-length ball that nipped back into him. He's reviewed, but it's a very good scrambled-seam ball by Siraj. AND IT IS OUT — it was a review more in hope than anything else; the ball kept low and it is hitting. Pope goes for 27 off 34 balls. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Pope hits back-to-back boundaries off Krishna to take England past 100. There were 14 runs from that Prasidh over, all hit by Pope, much to the delight of the Surrey faithful in the ground. The sun has come out and the floodlights are off. Snooker player Jimmy White is here in the committee room with his grandson Ralphie Albert, who plays in Surrey's academy and for England under-19s. The wicket of Duckett sends England's odds to win from 6/5 to 15/8. The floodlights are on and it's very gloomy. There is some rain coming from the west, but it won't hit until after 3.00pm, if it hits at all. Prasidh Krishna strikes in his first over as Duckett plays a shot outside off and it gets the edge. It was on fifth-stump line and went straight to KL Rahul at first slip. Big, big pressure on Joe Root now who is the most likely to navigate these tricky conditions and post a big score. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Fifty for Ben Duckett. He's been pretty consistent throughout the series and that is his 16th Test fifty. The England opener in a serious battle with Siraj and it's great fun to watch. Duckett is England's leading runscorer for the series with 462 at an average of 57.75, but Joe Root is not far behind with 432 at an average of 72. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. At the risk of a massive jinx, Pope looks a lot less skittish at the start of his innings here than he has on a lot of previous occasions. This is a less good over from Siraj, with the ball straying a bit down leg. It feels like there is a wicket coming; Duckett is living dangerously. He's been beaten a couple of times and Mohammed Siraj is giving him an absolute working over. Ollie Pope's batting average in the fourth innings of Tests is just 16.15; he has only passed 25 once. This is a huge day for the stand-in England captain. There's a strong breeze going across the ground, there is quite a lot of cloud overhead and there's still a bit of life in this pitch so this will be very difficult for England. Akash Deep is bowling to Ben Duckett; the India seamer has claimed his wicket three times already in this series. 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You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. A very good morning from The Oval for what could be the last day of the Test summer. The weather is lovely at the moment; it's warm and sunny but the forecast says there might be some showers this afternoon. India are of course the favourites and need to take eight wickets, although possibly nine because Chris Woakes will, in the scenario the England only need a small number of runs to win, go out to the middle with a bat in his hand and just try and stay at the non-strikers end. In a series that has had just about everything it feels like that might be the perfect ending, but that's a long way off. England need another 324 to win. Join me throughout the day for updates on and off the pitch.
South Wales Argus
an hour ago
- South Wales Argus
Joe Root and Harry Brook give England hope after Mohammed Siraj let-off
Chasing a massive 374 to take the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 3-1, the hosts reached lunch at 164 for three with their top two batters at the crease. Ben Duckett and stand-in captain Ollie Pope departed as India made inroads towards squaring the series 2-2, but a typically dependable 23 not out from Root and a counter-attacking unbeaten 38 by Brook left things in the balance. Brook hit four fours and two sixes in 30 balls before the break but was almost caught by Mohammed Siraj, who held on to a skier at fine leg before stepping over the boundary rope. Siraj had snatched the momentum with the last act on Saturday evening, bowling Zak Crawley with a clinical yorker, and was soon causing more problems for Duckett. He turned his overnight 34 into a fourth half-century of the series but never really settled in lasting 40 awkward minutes. He was beaten eight times, edging three deliveries and missing five more. Siraj was responsible for most of his troubles but it was Prasidh Krishna who got the rewards, coming on at the Pavilion End and striking lucky with his fourth ball as Duckett threw the kitchen sink at a drive. After seeing England fail to claim six catches in the third innings, KL Rahul showed them how it was done with a rock solid take at slip. Krishna, gamely filling the considerable boots of Jasprit Bumrah, came desperately close to pinning Root lbw for just three but saw his huge appeal rejected. Ball-tracking showed it was clipping leg stump, but not enough to overturn the decision. After an hour's play England had scraped together 37 runs, briefly accelerating as Pope hit three fours in an over off Krishna, including one classy on-drive. But that was the end of a cameo rather than the start of something more substantial, Siraj charging in and nailing him in front of the stumps. At 106 for three, India had taken control but the arrival of Brook brought a screeching gear shift. He went for all-out aggression, at one stage lashing 27 runs in eight balls. That included a crunch through midwicket and a lavish six over cover off Akash Deep before his near miss at fine-leg, risking his wicket but picking up six more for his efforts. Siraj looked mortified as he realised he had overbalanced, with the English fans revelling in his anguish. Krishna, meanwhile, had to quietly shelve the celebrations he had already started to perform.
