England hurt by late drops in decisive final Test

Fifth Rothesay Test, The Kia Oval (day two of five)

India 224 (Nair 57, Atkinson 5-33, Tongue 3-57) & 75-2 (Jaiswal 51*)

England 247 (Crawley 64, Brook 53, Duckett 43; Krishna 4-62, Siraj 4-86)

India lead by 52 runs

Scorecard

England dropped crucial catches late on the second day of the decisive final Test to leave India with the momentum at The Oval.

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was put down twice in his 51 not out and Sai Sudharsan let off once before falling lbw to Gus Atkinson. The tourists eventually closed a chaotic day on 75-2, leading by 52.

The ball darted around throughout. India lost their last four first-innings wickets inside the first six overs of the morning to be bowled out for 224, then England lost all nine of their wickets for 155 runs in being dismissed for 247.

In such helpful conditions for the bowlers, an extraordinary opening stand of 92 between Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, racked up in less than 13 overs, was incredibly valuable for the home side.

Duckett was sensational for his 43, reverse-sweeping Akash Deep and scooping Mohammed Siraj for a six apiece. Crawley hammered 14 fours in his 64.

Duckett's dismissal, attempting another reverse at Deep, began India's resurgence and sparked more exchanges between the two teams in what has been a tetchy series.

Deep put his arm around the shoulders of Duckett as he departed. If that looked good-natured, later verbals between Prasidh Krishna and Joe Root were anything but. Root, usually unflappable, was furious.

Mohammed Siraj was outstanding in taking 4-86, supported by Krishna's 4-62. Harry Brook's 53 dragged England into a slender lead of 23.

That advantage was wiped out quickly as England bowled for a second time in the day. Whereas the hosts were ruthless in the morning, led by Atkinson's 5-33, their sloppiness in the evening could cost them a series victory.

Sudharsan was put down by Crawley after Jaiswal was given lives by Brook and Liam Dawson. Dawson was subbing for Chris Woakes, who will miss the remainder of the match with a shoulder injury sustained on day one.

England were denied a series win by India's rearguard in the fourth Test at Old Trafford. They now need a huge effort on Saturday at The Oval to prevent a 2-2 draw.

They could and probably should have been out of sight. The Duckett-Crawley partnership frazzled India, threatening to completely derail the tourists. The wisdom of the shot Duckett played for his dismissal can be debated, though it was only in keeping with the rest of a sparkling innings.

India deserve huge credit for the way they fought back. They left themselves a seamer short in their selection, still Siraj, Deep and Krishna have collectively outbowled England.

As he usually does when Jasprit Bumrah is not in the team, Siraj stepped up to lead the attack. A tireless eight-over spell across the afternoon that had all of Ollie Pope, Root and Jacob Bethell lbw was a game-changing contribution.

England were poor with the ball on Thursday, yet picked up wickets. Their bowlers improved on Friday and were let down the by the fielders.

At the end of it all, India were left with the opportunity to bat themselves towards victory on Saturday.

The harder the batting conditions, the more likely England are to attack. For that reason, the Duckett-Crawley stand was the most extreme period of Bazballing this summer, yet the aggressive intent also caused England problems.

The opening partnership seemed a different game to the rest of the day. Duckett danced down the pitch and played the audacious shots over his shoulder. Crawley jumped on to the front foot with authoritative drives.

Duckett's attempted reverse at Deep was one too many, opening the door for India. Krishna got Crawley to miscue a pull before the bowler's confrontation with Root caused the umpires to step in.

As Siraj ran through the middle-order, including Bethell out for six in his first home Test innings, Krishna followed by making short work of the lower-order. Jamie Smith's lazy poke to slip, Jamie Overton's four-ball duck and Atkinson's miscue to mid-on were all tame dismissals.

England needed Brook, who began in frantic fashion, to hold them together. Slashing and swiping, he had just nine from the first 19 balls he faced, then accelerated to a half-century from 57. When Tongue arrived, Brook played an incredible sweep for six off Siraj.

Either side of an hour's delay for rain, Brook tried to protect Tongue from the strike, though could not prevent himself being bowled by the irrepressible Siraj.

For England to be a man down and have to bowl twice on Friday was far from ideal, albeit if they were limited bursts at the beginning and end of the day.

When India resumed their first innings on 204-6, England took the field in white headbands as The Oval celebrated the life of former England batter Graham Thorpe. Thorpe's fellow Surrey man Atkinson then led the way with the ball.

Tongue was just as erratic as he was on day one, only to produce a vicious in-swinger to have Karun Nair lbw for 57. Atkinson bounced out Washington Sundar, bowled Siraj and had Krishna caught behind for his fourth five-wicket haul in Test cricket. The last four wickets fell in the space of 18 deliveries.

Faced with the deficit in India's second innings, left-hander Jaiswal was typically aggressive. His first chance, on 20, was tough as Brook parried a high edge at second slip off the bowling of Atkinson. The second, a hook to long leg off Tongue on 40, should have been swallowed, but Dawson lost track of the ball.

England were slipping towards disarray when third slip Crawley missed Sudharsan's sharp edge off Overton, yet Atkinson stepped up again with a shooter than resulted in a leg-before decision. Sudharsan looked to have words with the England fielders as he departed.

Deep emerged as nightwatchman and faced just two deliveries before the umpires intervened over the light.