Team India staged a stunning comeback to leave a win for them possible on Day 5 of the Oval Test against England in London. Although Joe Root and Harry Brook had put the home side in sight of an easy win pursuit of a stiff 374, the post-tea session saw the tourists claw their way back to chase an unlikely and famous win.
Chasing 374, the home side had gotten off to a promising start as Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley stitched a 50-run stand but Mohammed Siraj landed a vital blow in the final over of Day 3. Siraj's yorker stunned Crawley for 14 as the Englishmen finished Day 3 at 50/1. India continued to bowl with energy or gusto in the opening session of Day 4 too and notably dismissed Duckett (54) and Ollie Pope (27) to peg England back.
The turning point arguably came in the 35th over of the innings when Brook mistimed a shot to fine leg and Mohammed Siraj shockingly landing on the rope after taking the catch. The Yorkshire batter was on 19 at that stage and launched a calculated counter-attack to add 195 with Root, with his personal score of 111, leaving Team India in a massive hole.
Joe Root hammers falls for 105 with England 35 runs adrift from victory
With the former England captain walking off to tea at 98, he completed his century almost immediately amid a nervous Jacob Bethell still finding his feet. A delayed start to the post-tea session meant that the Indian fast bowlers had they had got a break.
Nevertheless, Root hardly ever gave them a chance and got to the three-figure mark off Akash Deep's bowling and paid tribute to the late Graham Thorpe. Bethell had departed for 5, leaving England with 42 more runs to get. Prasidh Krishna's sustained pressure also brought upon Root's downfall, who perished for 105.
With England needing 35 runs to win, showers interrupted and Jamie Overton and Jamie Overton had to walk off. Stumps had to eventually be called off due to heavy rain and no prospect of a restart.
The final Test will also go into day 5 as a result.
