India collapse again to leave England in charge
India's tail has been their weak link all series but the middle order also failed to build on a decent end to Thursday's play as pace bowler Josh Atkinson took five wickets on his return to action having not played a Test since May.
Josh Tongue continued with his all or nothing approach from last night, spraying a ball wildly beyond the wicketkeeper for four byes then getting Karun Nair lbw for 57 to get England moving.
Washington Sundar, who showed such patience in his rearguard century to help save the fourth Test, forgot that approach and tamely pulled straight to Jamie Overton to depart for 26 as the two remaining recognised batsmen went after adding a total of 11 runs off the bat between them on Friday.
Atkinson then bowled Mohammed Siraj and had Prasidh Krishna caught behind, both for ducks, to finish with 5-33 from 21.4 overs in his first appearance of the series.
Earlier the ECB said that all-rounder Chris Woakes will miss the remainder of the match after suffering a shoulder injury while fielding late on Thursday.
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Express Tribune
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ECB bans ex-Pak players' agent Mughees
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Express Tribune
02-08-2025
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India fight back in England finale
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. 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. 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. 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.
Business Recorder
01-08-2025
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India collapse again to leave England in charge
India's lower order collapsed again on Friday as, after resuming at 204-6, they were skittled for 224 by England in less than half an hour at The Oval to leave their chances of finding the win they need to square the series hanging by a thread. India's tail has been their weak link all series but the middle order also failed to build on a decent end to Thursday's play as pace bowler Josh Atkinson took five wickets on his return to action having not played a Test since May. Josh Tongue continued with his all or nothing approach from last night, spraying a ball wildly beyond the wicketkeeper for four byes then getting Karun Nair lbw for 57 to get England moving. Washington Sundar, who showed such patience in his rearguard century to help save the fourth Test, forgot that approach and tamely pulled straight to Jamie Overton to depart for 26 as the two remaining recognised batsmen went after adding a total of 11 runs off the bat between them on Friday. Atkinson then bowled Mohammed Siraj and had Prasidh Krishna caught behind, both for ducks, to finish with 5-33 from 21.4 overs in his first appearance of the series. Earlier the ECB said that all-rounder Chris Woakes will miss the remainder of the match after suffering a shoulder injury while fielding late on Thursday.
