Recent Match Report – England vs India, India tour of England, 5th Test

India 224 (Nair 57, Atkinson 5-33) and 75 for 2 (Jaiswal 51*, Tongue 1-25) lead England 247 (Crawley 64, Brook 53, Prasidh 4-62, Siraj 4-86) by 52 runs

Now this, party people, is what it is all about. We had to wait until the last Friday of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, but here it was. The best day’s play so far, has, at this juncture, put India in control, 75 for 2 in their second innings, leading by 52.

That it was day two of this fifth and final Test added to the spectacle. The jeopardy of it all felt keenly, a slalom through angst and nerves. Gus Atkinson’s fourth five-wicket haul after two months out closed India’s first innings for 224. And the same man delivered the final meaningful act, removing Sai Sudharsan LBW, the last of Friday’s 15 wickets to fall.

In between, England had been dismissed for 247, a lead of 23 that looked like being a whole lot more when Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett blitzed 92 from 77 deliveries. But it was soon after that point, from lunch with England 109 for 1 and only trailing by 115, that India stirred.

A rousing middle session from Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, 4 for 86 and 4 for 62, respectively, instigated and then completed a collapse that saw all nine wickets fall for 155. And if there was any doubt that they had ceded the match, it was confirmed in a final 16-over session.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, pugnacious and still alive with 51 not out from 49 deliveries, was dropped twice. First on 20 by Harry Brook, secondly by 40 by sub-fielder Liam Dawson. And though Crawley got away with his miss of Sai Sudharsan on seven, the vibe was of an already stretched team with Chris Woakes ruled out of the match with the shoulder injury sustained on day one, desperately reaching out for a game that may drift out of their reach at some point on Saturday.

More to follow…