Siraj surpasses Bhuvneshwar to become only second Indian to achieve this feat
Pacer Mohammed Siraj surpassed Bhuvneshwar Kumar to become only the second Indian to get 20 or more wickets during a Test series against England in English conditions. Siraj accomplished this upward movement in the charts during day four of the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval. Siraj's spell on day 4 was a scorching one, bowling eight overs, giving away 33 runs, and getting a crucial wicket of Ollie Pope to end the first session with figures of 2/44 in 12 overs. Now in the ongoing series, this workhorse bowler is the leading wicket-taker with 20 wickets at an average of 34.30 in nine innings, with best figures of 6/70. He has outdone Bhuvneshwar's 19-wicket effort during the 2014 series at an average of 26.63 and best figures of 6/82.
The highest wickets by an Indian during a series in England are by Jasprit Bumrah, who took 23 scalps in five matches at an average of 22.47, with best figures of 5/64, his sole fifer in the series. Coming to the Test match, England ended the first session of day four at 164/3, needing 210 runs to win, with Harry Brook (38*) and Joe Root (23*) unbeaten.
After England opted to bat first, they reduced India to 153/6. A 58-run partnership between Karun Nair (57 in 109 balls, with eight fours) and Washington Sundar (26 in 55 balls, with three fours) was the most meaningful part of the inning as India was bundled out for 224 runs. Apart from Gus Atkinson's five-wicket haul, Josh Tongue (3/57) was also good.In the second innings, four-fers from Siraj (4/83) and Prasidh Krishna (4/62) reduced England to 247, despite a 92-run opening stand between Zak Crawley (64 in 57 balls, with 14 fours) and Ben Duckett (43 in 38 balls, with five fours and two sixes). They led by 23 runs. In India's second innings, key contributions came from Yashasvi Jaiswal (118 in 164 balls, with 14 fours and two sixes), Akash Deep (66 in 94 balls, with 12 fours), Ravindra Jadeja (53 in 77 balls, with five fours) and Washington Sundar (53 in 46 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes). They all took India to 396 runs, giving them a 373-run lead and giving a target of 374 runs to England to win the series.
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