England vs India 5th Test day three - as it happened

That is stumps.

Another absolutely absorbing day as this series nears its conclusion.

Dropped catches, another bit of needle as the players walked off for lunch, an onslaught by Washington Sundar, another vital innings by Ravindra Jadeja, a magnificent hundred by Jaiswal and five wickets for Josh Tongue.

It’s a simple equation now — India need eight wickets or possibly nine, because Woakes will come out to the middle with one arm and a bat if necessary, and England need 324 to win.

We could be in for a fun day tomorrow. Join me then.

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WICKET!

Oh my goodness — Siraj takes a wicket with the penultimate ball of the day and goes mental, running around with arms wide before going into his favourite Cristiano Ronaldo celebration.

He’s castled the despondent Crawley with a perfect yorker to become the joint-leading wicket-taker for the series alongside Josh Tongue with 19.

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Crawley has a laugh

Funny! Crawley pulls out of his stance as Siraj is running in, and the crowd both boos and laughs. He wants to make absolutely sure the clock ticks over to 7pm before the end of the over…

Fifty partnership

A scampered two brings up the fifty partnership for Crawley and Duckett. They’ve done well to see off the first 13 overs of this innings, and we’re ready for the final over of the day. Siraj to Crawley.

Ben Duckett takes a sore one

Ben Duckett has whipped his glove off after being hit on the hand by one from Krishna that’s reared up from the Vauxhall End, where the bowlers have been finding a bit of extra bounce.

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Duckett is in pain and the physios are on the pitch. I don’t think this one is time-wasting tactics — his hand came off the bat and he pulled his glove off quickly.

About 15 minutes of play left in the day.

Strong start

India have two sub fielders on at the moment in Shardul Thakur and Abhimanyu Easwaran.

England have made a flying start here — 32 off eight overs, and they’ve looked relatively untroubled.

They’d be delighted to start tomorrow not having lost a wicket, particularly as the pitch looks like it’s flattening out a bit.

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As if it wasn’t difficult enough...

A reminder that Chris Woakes won’t be able to bat after his injury on day one, which feels like an age ago. So, India will only need to take nine wickets to win this match and tie the series.

Woakes is a handy enough batsman too, so England will miss his runs in this innings almost as much as they missed his bowling.

India build the pressure

No runs in 14 deliveries… the two batsmen meet in the middle and have a little chat. They still have 35 minutes to survive here, and Mohammed Siraj has just been handed the ball. He’ll replace Deep at the pavilion end.

In case you missed it...

With that five-wicket haul in the second innings, and four in the first, Josh Tongue is now England’s top wicket-taker in the series. He has 19 in the three matches he’s played, and moves ahead of Ben Stokes, who has 17 in four matches.

Crawley gets a sore one

Sixteen runs come off the first three overs. Akash Deep is getting some very sharp bounce from the Vauxhall End, and Crawley has been thudded in the right bicep by one that reared up — looks like it hurt a lot.

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If England do indeed win this match, it would be the second-highest Test run chase in England history — the highest being Edgbaston against India in 2022, when Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root led the charge to 378.

There are 50 minutes left in the day.

Facials...

Brilliant pictures of the mix-up between Crawley and Pope to dismiss Sundar… A couple for the dating profiles, perhaps?

JAY PATEL/SPP/SHUTTERSTOCK

JAY PATEL/SPP/SHUTTERSTOCK

Sun is coming out

It’s a glorious evening in south London, and Akash Deep will open up as India look to level the series. And they’re definitely favourites…

There’s more than an hour’s left of play, and surely the openers have to survive the rest of the day to have any hope of winning this match and clinching the series.

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Here we go, then...

The final innings of the series is about to begin. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett come out to the middle, and got off to a flier yesterday morning, and will need to do even better to put England in with a chance.

Akash Deep has the ball in hand from the Vauxhall end, and Crawley will take strike.

WICKET!

Sundar is finally gone, but it wasn’t without drama. Crawley and Pope go after one that’s gone miles up in the air, and nearly get in each other’s way but the big man hangs on. Josh Tongue has five, but that final smash from Sundar has put India in a commanding position.

England need 374 to win. Easy.

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New ball, please

We need a new ball — that one has gone through the gap in the stands, and Sundar took 17 off that over.

This partnership is really really hurting England. The lead is 373, 100 more than the largest ever successful chase by England at this ground, and five shy of the total England chased against India at Edgbaston in 2022.

Fifty!

Good grief, what a shot. Sundar has absolutely crunched Atkinson over mid-wicket straight into the crowd for six, bringing up a fifty off just 39 balls. The sound off the bat was astonishing – you could probably hear it across south London.

Four fours and four sixes, and the genuine all-rounder is really putting the hammer down.

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Washington going nuclear

This is serious hitting. Sundar has just slapped Atkinson through mid-on for another boundary, taking him to 46 not out.

Sundar taking Tongue to the cleaners

Two more sixes off Josh Tongue sends India’s lead beyond 350. Proper T20 batting sends it high, long and well into the crowd. Not the most elegant, but this is extremely effective, and will be demoralising for England.

You’d think Tongue will stop pitching it short to take that shot out of the equation. He looks a little bamboozled, and has just bowled two wides while looking for the bouncer. He’s losing all control, and the over eventually goes for 15 runs.

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Smart cricket

Washington Sundar has hit a lofted drive for six towards Archbishop Tenison’s School. It sails over the head of Bethell and it’s caught well in the crowd.

A couple of balls later there’s a wide one from Atkinson, and Prasidh takes a sharp single. Really alert backing up and they get a single to get Washington back on strike. Sundar goes after another one off Tongue, for another six.

WICKET!

Tongue gets another one! Two in the over and Siraj is gone lbw. There was a faint edge, but the umpire didn’t see it, and India have no reviews left… Josh Tongue is cleaning up the tail again, a handy skill to have.

Krishna joins Washington Sundar at the crease with India’s lead at 334.

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WICKET!

Jadeja is gone! An unusually loose shot is gobbled up at second slip by Harry Brook off Tongue, and the dangerous all-rounder is gone for 53 off 77. That’s the first time he’s been out in the second innings.

Brook celebrated like he’d won the World Cup after a couple of drops earlier. England are just about hanging on… Mohammed Siraj, who has been at the centre of nearly everything in this series, comes to the middle with Washington Sundar.

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Fifty!

Another vital innings from Ravindra Jadeja keeps India going. His half-century comes off 71 balls with five fours. He now has 515 runs in the series, making him the third-highest run scorer, and hasn’t been dismissed in his team’s second innings in any of the five matches…

Out comes the sword celebration to huge cheers at the Oval.

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Josh Tongue back in

The big bowler is on from the Vauxhall end as England look to keep the lead to below 350 to give themselves a fighting chance…

New ball

At the first opportunity, Ollie Pope has taken the new ball and thrown it straight to Gus Atkinson at the pavilion end.

WICKET!

A full ball from Overton beats Jurel’s outside edge with a bit of a jag away, and is given out lbw. He’s reviewed it… Looks extremely out, and is. It’s clattering into the top of off. Three reds, and no more reviews, just as the lead hit 300. England are not out of this yet…

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Free stash

There’s a chap in a bright red top sitting just underneath the sight screen, enjoying the day’s play. Jadeja is taking issue with his get-up and keeps pulling away from his ground. To stop him disrupting proceedings any more, he’s been thrown a very inoffensive grey Surrey CCC polo shirt, and we’re back under way.

Back under way

We’re back under way for what will be a two hour and 45 minute session. Play can go till 7pm tonight.

Jacob Bethell is going to bowl from the Pavilion end. Some spin will help to get through to the new ball, which will become available in nine overs’ time.

TEA

That’s tea — time for a cuppa and a scone.

India have taken control of this Test, with their total going past 300 for the innings, and the lead at 281. The run rate is a touch more than four an over.

England will have a pretty big chase on their hands when they finally bowl them out. The new ball available in nine overs though, which should help.

History beckons

England will now need to beat a 123-year-old record to win this Test. India’s lead has now gone past 263, which England successfully chased here in 1902 against Australia.

Even with only ten batsmen, they’ll back themselves to do it, particularly if Crawley and Duckett can come out blazing as they did in the first innings.

Review... not out

Josh Tongue thinks he has Jadeja out lbw, and Kumar Dharmasena agrees, after a bit of deliberation. It was a full one that came back in and struck Jadeja flush on the toe, and he reviews it.

Just as well for India he did, too. Replays show it was outside the line of off stump, and the decision is overturned. He’s in some discomfort though, and the physios are on the field.

Cricket wasn’t the winner in any way there.

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Chasing history

The lead is now 250. Remember, the highest successful run chase at the Oval is England’s 263 against Australia in 1902, when Gilbert Jessop scored England’s fastest century in history.

Such a stat leads me into a nice little segue — Simon Wilde, of this parish, had a book published yesterday on the Gilbert Jessop record that is still yet to be broken.

Chasing Jessop is available now.

WICKET!

There’s the big one! Jaiswal holes out to Craig Overton at backward point off Tongue, and he departs for a wonderful 118.

Jaiswal didn’t quite get hold of the attempted ramp shot, bringing Dhruv Jurel out to the middle.

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Josh Tongue losing his line

Josh Tongue has a leg side problem. The momentum of the way his body goes of his action from wound the wicket means he pushes deliveries down the leg side, giving Jamie Smith plenty to do behind the stumps.

He’s in his 22nd over, but it’s starting to be a bit of an issue.

Joe Root in to the attack

Here comes the spin, England’s greatest batsman has the ball in hand. Jaiswal and Jadeja will probably try to go after him here, so there are plenty of fielders in the deep.

They needn’t have worried – Root has it on a string and bowls a maiden.

Something to hold on to

Jadeja edges one off Overton, but it flies past Joe Root at slip and Harry Brook isn’t at second anymore — he’s been moved in front of square.

England will be encouraged by the chances that are coming here, though…

Hard at work

Josh Tongue is replacing Gus Atkinson at the Pavilion end after the Surrey lad had bowled seven on the bounce.

Tongue is starting his 20th over. With only the three seamers on the field, they’re having to graft really hard. They’ll all need quite a long break after this series.

No sign of the part-time spin of Jacob Bethell and Joe Root yet…

Difficult one

That’s a tough chance but another catch goes down. Duckett gets low down to his left at leg slip but can’t quite get his fingers round it.

Jamie Overton is getting some nice swing here though.

JAVIER GARCIA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Drinks

That’s drinks. Pope was off the field again just before the break. Not sure why — he seems fine. Perhaps another tactics chat with Baz and Ben.

Reminder that tea is not until 3.55pm as we try to get 98 overs in today.

This India pair look very quick between the sticks, especially Jadeja, so England need to try and cut off the singles.

Joe Root has given the team a pep talk and England will be looking to try and wrap this up in the next couple of hours and keep the lead to something very chasable.

Any chance of a chase?

In case you were wondering/have a ticket for tomorrow, the record successful run chase in a Test match at the Oval is 263 for nine, way back in 1902.

Jadeja under way

Jadeja is yet to be dismissed in a second innings in this series. He gets off the mark with a streaky single and then Jaiswal blazes one through the covers for four, but clutches his left hamstring in the follow through with a theatrical kick.

There is a strong breeze across the ground now — the flags on top of the pavilion are fluttering madly. Nothing on the radar suggests we might get any rain, though.

WICKET!

There’s one! Atkinson gets one to move a bit and draws a thick edge from Nair. Jamie Smith makes no mistake behind the stumps.

Nair departs for 17 from 32 balls, and the lead is 206. This is getting interesting.

Ravindra Jadeja comes to the crease.

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Dropping like flies

Oh no — another drop, the fifth of the innings. There’s a thick edge off Nair and was a tougher one than this morning, to be fair. Brook goes for the catch but Crawley flies in front of him.

Hundred!

A century for Yashasvi Jaiswal. He goes bounding down the wicket for a single off Atkinson and roars with delight towards the dressing room. It’s the sixth of his Test career and second of the series.

It’s come off 127 balls with eleven fours and two sixes, and he’s put his team in a brilliant position here. That’s the 19th hundred of the series, the most ever scored in a single series in this country.

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No cramp

The 200 is up for India, and Jaiswal seems fine now as he moves towards three figures.

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Atkinson fired up

Blimey — what did Gus Atkinson have for lunch? He’s come out fired up and is bowling some seriously good balls.

The physio is on the pitch after Karun Nair takes a blow on the hand.

The umpire Ahsan Raza is keeping a watchful eye on how long this is all taking…

WICKET!

What a start! Atkinson pins Gill first ball after lunch, a fuller ball that came back in. Dharmasena had a long think but up goes the finger. The India captain reviews…

DRS is taking an age to load up — the joke in the press box is that someone is on the phone to the ICC to see if the third umpire is allowed to give it out.

It’s clearly missed the bat, three reds come up, flush onto middle and he’s off. Review burnt, too.

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Where has that been all day?

Karun Nair comes out to bat.

We’re back under way

Jaiswal and Gill come back out to the middle on 85 and 11. Gus Atkinson has the ball at the pavilion end.

LUNCH

There were some heated words all the way back to the pavilion — even Ollie Pope joined in, and he is usually pretty quiet.

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Jaiswal ran up the stairs to the dressing room, the cramp has clearly disappeared quite quickly.

India have added 114 this morning with the loss of just one wicket, and the lead stands at 166.

Get on with it

Jaiswal is doing some theatrics trying to make sure that this is the last over before lunch. He is indicating that he has cramp somewhere — back, hamstring or calf — he has rubbed all of them.

Sky have had to apologise for the choice language picked up on the stump mic — I don’t think England are very impressed with the time-wasting stuff given how much India moaned about England doing it. All good fun though.

The lead is 166 at lunch.

Shubman Gill off the mark

A lovely cut shot punishes a tired ball from Overton and scampers to the fence. The India captain is under way.

WICKET!

There’s the breakthrough! Jamie Overton’s short ball bamboozles Deep, it takes a leading edge and balloons up into the air and Gus Atkinson takes the catch. The fun is over for Deep, but he’s played a brilliant innings of 66 and is congratulated by his team-mates.

But Jaiswal is still there, and the series’ leading runscorer is about to come to the crease… Ten minutes to go to lunch.

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Hundred partnership

A big flash through gully off Deep flies to the boundary to bring up the century partnership. Ben Duckett gave it a great go but he couldn’t quite get his hand to it… The lead is 149.

More runs

Now Deep has edged one wide of the slips and England’s heads are very much down. They need the lunch break to try to regroup and work out what the heck to do.

Fifty!

There’s the half-century for Akash Deep, the second of his career, and his first in Test cricket. He’s arrived at it off 70 balls, with nine fours. The partnership is now at 84.

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Rain in Sydney, sunny in London

While lightning has stopped play in the rugby, it’s gone a bit dark here at the Oval, but there’s no rain yet. Akash Deep is approaching a half-century, and I’ve got my eye on the record books for the most runs scored by a nightwatchman…

Smacked away

Atkinson has come to the Vauxhall end, and his first ball is absolutely dispatched with fearsome intent by Akash Deep through the leg side for four.

England have been poor so far this morning.

A few balls later, there’s a bit of football from Akash Deep who kicks the ball away as it looks like it’s rolling back to the stumps. Not an amazing right foot to be honest…

Drinks

That was a bad first hour for England — a dropped catch, no wickets and 52 runs added by India.

Fifty partnership comes up

That’s the fifty partnership between Jaiswal and Deep — it’s come from 74 balls — not what England had in their script.

Pope leaves the field

Ollie Pope, who remember is stand-in captain in Ben Stokes’s absence, nipped upstairs for a tactical chat with Brendon McCullum… Nathan Barnwell, a Surrey quick, comes on as sub fielder.

All good fun

Are Akash Deep and Ben Duckett making up with each other? The two share a little hug — very sweet.

Meanwhile Jaiswal, who has been dropped twice, is looking in very good touch and this partnership is approaching 50, which is really frustrating England. A psychological win for India.

Review... not out

Tongue thinks he has Deep lbw, it’s given not out on the field but they decide to review. It was a good length ball from Tongue that jags back in. It looked like it was going down leg but the review is saved by umpire’s call.

The very next ball, Crawley drops a thick edge… That’s the fourth drop of the innings.

This partnership is now worth 35, and the catching is well below the standards England expect of themselves. Josh Tongue is rightly cheesed off with that one.

Crawley failed to hang on to an easy chance to dismiss Deep JAVIER GARCIA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Hundred up for India

Jaiswal and Deep bring up the hundred for the touring side, and they look really in control here. The lead is now 78.

Smart cricket

Tongue is coming round the wicket but Jaiswal has played a smart hand, fencing one through the vacant third-slip region, and then taking a single off the fourth ball of the over. They’re farming the strike well.

Gus Atkinson comes in

Bethell’s over was, indeed, to facilitate a change of ends for Gus Atkinson who has taken over at the Pavilion end.

First job is to try and shift the nightwatchman Deep, who has played pretty nicely for his ten runs.

Josh Tongue comes in from the other end

Josh Tongue will take the Vauxhall end. He was much better yesterday with his lines after spraying it like a fireman on the first day.

Jacob Bethell opens the bowling. No, really

Well that is interesting — Bethell is opening up from the pavilion end but it might be just to facilitate a change of ends for one of the seamers.

He’s been taken for six already.

CHRIS FOXWELL/PROSPORTS/SHUTTERSTOCK

Picking Liam Dawson over Rehan Ahmed cost England in fourth Test, says coach

The Leicestershire head coach Alfonso Thomas took aim at England’s selectors for picking Dawson ahead of Ahmed for Old Trafford.

Thomas watched five-times capped Ahmed, 20, England’s youngest Test cricketer, hit 119 in Leicestershire’s first-innings total of 471 on Tuesday — his fifth hundred of the summer and the fourth County Championship match in a row in which he has scored a century.

Read the full story here.

Session times

The nets have been taken down off the outfield, the ground staff have put the stumps in and people are streaming into the Oval — we’re 15 minutes away from the start of play on what will be another extended day. We should get 98 overs.

Morning session: 11am – 1pm

Lunch: 1pm – 1.40pm

Afternoon session: 1.40pm – 3.55pm

Tea: 3.55pm – 4.15pm

Evening session: 4.15pm – 6.30pm, plus an extra half an hour to get the overs in.

Only a lunatic would want to rein in England’s game-changing openers

Martin Samuel, at the Oval

Whatever happens from here, however this series pans out, one thing is increasingly clear: we can’t go back now.

For the foreseeable future, this is how the England openers will be asked to play; indeed, this is how they should play. What Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett did at the Oval in 77 balls represented more than merely a template. It is the evolution of a sport, a logical development. It just doesn’t seem that way right now because it’s still so new. No one can quite get to grips with the thought that it won’t be the same again.

Read the full article here.

GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES

Bowlers finally get their reward

Simon Wilde, at the Oval

After a summer of toil, bowlers finally found some luck yesterday on a helpful pitch at the Oval. After a series where bat has dominated ball, there was swing, seam and lbws all at play on an eventful day. It seems the tables have finally turned, and not before time.

Read the full piece here.

A reminder of yesterday’s play

Get ready for today with a rundown of all the action from yesterday.

Mohammed Siraj’s wonderful spell

The India bowler has played every game of this series, and has never been far from the centre of the action. Plenty of brilliant moments, topped off by a brilliant spell yesterday to get his team right back in the game.

Neil Manthorp and talkSPORT’s cricket editor Jon Norman discuss a manic day at the Oval.

Yashasvi Jaiswal tees off

The young opener led the Indian fightback with bat late on Friday evening, making a handsome half-century to put his team in a great position. He rode his luck a little, having been dropped a couple of times.

Jarrod Kimber is joined by the former New Zealand captain Jeremy Coney to look back on the events on day two of the final Test.

Good morning!

A very good morning from the Oval where summer seems to have returned. It’s a balmy 19C — the sun is out and there’s blue sky overhead, and, most importantly there is no rain forecast.

Things are very evenly poised on the pitch after an eventful day yesterday. There’s still a bit of life in the pitch which continues to have a tinge of green, but it should be a bit easier to bat today. In India will be intending to bat all day and get themselves a substantial lead.

Join me throughout the day for all the action on and off the pitch.

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