England squander chance to take control as tetchy final Test heads for close finish

Day two at the Oval was played in fast forward and when England are batting this tends to mean one of two things: either the scoreboard spinning like wheels on a fruit machine and pigeons flying to all parts, or the regular clank of spikes up and down the dressing room stairs.

There was a fair bit of both, as it happened, plus tempers once again fraying, as the crowd witnessed a bun fight unfold out in the middle. But while India were initially skittled for 224 by the completion of Gus Atkinson’s fourth five-wicket haul in Test cricket, England then folded to 247 all out and an opportunity to take full control had gone begging.

The injury Chris Woakes sustained on day one not only ruined his Ashes but it also left England a bowler down in this series finale. As well as needing to give the remainder of the attack time off their feet, this meant securing a decent lead. On a day when £124,000 was raised for Mind in memory of Graham Thorpe, here was a challenge he would have relished. Lasting a mere 51.2 overs and nudging just 23 runs ahead, they fell short, undone by the only seamer to go the distance in this brutal series. Not for the first time in his career when Jasprit Bumrah is missing, Mohammed Siraj delivered the tamasha, sharing eight wickets with the recalled Prasidh Krishna.

Both quicks snarled their way through an afternoon in which the removal of six Englishmen for 106 runs swung the pendulum back to India. By the close, having been plunged back into the field, Ollie Pope’s three-man seam attack had picked up the 14th and 15th wicket of the day. But with India reaching 75 for two – a lead of 52 – a 2-2 series draw was still loading.

If so – and this Test remains hugely volatile, given the seaming surface – then England’s approach will once again be questioned, both the high-wire batting and their broader propensity to unspool at the end of a series. Although the most productive stand came when Bazball’s lizard brain was most in play: when conservative thoughts are fully parked and only the upside to unfettered aggression is considered.

After Atkinson doused the Indian tail first thing, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley crunched 92 runs between them during 12.5 overs of morning chaos. Crawley slapped 14 fours en route to 64 from 57 balls but Duckett was the catalyst, with his 43 from 38 a veritable flurry of impish ramped sixes and charged square smacks that startled Oval’s birdlife.

This white-knuckle ride was terminated before lunch, however, through the inevitable downside to all this. Duckett’s latest premeditated attempt to reverse scoop to Akash Deep was gloved behind – red meat for England’s critics, even if they will have to concede the shot’s previous profitability.

View image in fullscreen Gus Atkinson celebrates after dismissing Sai Sudharsan on Friday evening as India closed on 75 for two to lead by 52. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters

What followed raised a few eyebrows. Deep threw an arm around Duckett’s shoulder and offered a few words to go with it. No one was quite sure if England’s opener was fine with this or simply holding firm.

In a series of increasing bad blood, the amateur lip-readers were struggling – not that getting in a batter’s space after winning the contest is ever a great idea.

There are few who relish such spice more than Siraj and when England resumed on 109 for one after lunch, his spiky eight-over burst of three for 35 ripped out of their middle order. Bowling full, and with impressive energy given the miles on the clock, a trio of lbws took Pope, for 22 runs, and Joe Root, 29, both undone by balls that jagged back and Jacob Bethell, six, yorked.

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Another sign of the rising temperature was the typically upbeat Root trading verbals with Krishna, triggering some Indian frustration that umpire Kumar Dharmasena chose only to tick off their man. But Krishna played a far more significant role in England’s derailment than chirp alone.

Hitting 90mph on the speed gun, the wiry right-armer first profited from Crawley’s top-edge pull and, having been manhandled by Jamie Smith at Edgbaston, enjoyed some sweet revenge courtesy of a footwork-devoid drive to slip. When he continued Jamie Overton’s underwhelming return with a duck fourth ball, England stumbled into tea on 215 for seven.

Among the oddities was Harry Brook watching much of this unfold from the far end for what – by his standards anyway – was a relatively becalmed 33. The right-hander did swell this to 53, including one outrageous tumbling swept six. But after Atkinson came and went – and with Woakes batting a non-starter – he was the last to fall. Fittingly it was Siraj who shut things down here as another ball nipped back to rattle the stumps.

The final 18 overs continued the fast forward action. Josh Tongue ended KL Rahul’s series on an excellent 532 runs at 53.2, Atkinson pinned his old Surrey teammate Sai Sudharsan lbw late on. But Yashasvi Jaiswal ransacked a rapid 51 not out. To sum up the day – possibly the series at large – two chances to end it early slipped through English fingers.

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