Key events
63rd over: England 301-4 (Bethell 0, Root 83) Jacob Bethell, in his first home Test, makes his way out. Welcome to the circus, pal. England need 73 to win.
Max Williams sent this in before that wicket …
Weird parallels with the Oval test of the 2023 Ashes. Both sides make scores in the 200s with Australia holding a narrow lead. England then smash 390 odd in the third innings. A big fourth wicket partnership takes Australia to 264-3 but ultimately they fall 49 runs short and draw the series 2-2.
WICKET! Brook c Siraj b Deep 111 (England 301-4)
Deep floats up the juiciest of half-volleys and Brook wallops through the covers for four; Siraj, rolling on the carpet, looks absolutely cooked. Another boundary follows before the wildest of dismissals! Brook charges a length ball but miscues, his bat flying out of the hands to the leg side, the ball to Siraj at cover. Brook leaves with a standing ovation. Time for a twist?
62nd over: England 289-3 (Brook 103, Root 83) Siraj returns, reaching the end of his five-Test marathon. What a slog. There’s an issue with the footholes at the crease, so out comes a member of the ground staff to hammer away, allowing for a mid-over break. When play resumes, Root guides the ball behind point for four. The tension is being sucked out here. England need 81 to win.
Dean Kinsella writes:
My mate Tom reckons Shubman should offer to shake hands on this!
David Howell sends this in:
On the overall balance of play, England have no right to win this series 3-1… ..but picking three seamers on purpose, on a greentop, at the end of a draining series, is straight out of the Guinness Book of Sporting Blunders I remember reading and re-reading as a kid.
I dread to think what apoplexy awaits from the Indian media if England do manage to complete the job of punishing that.
Hundred for Harry Brook!
Oh dear, Akash Deep has had a shocker there. Brook drives Sundar to deep extra cover and a tired Deep tries to boot it away with his left; it ricochets off his body and finds the rope. Brook then nabs two behind point, allowing him to celebrate his 10th Test hundred in his 30th match: a phenomenal record, a phenomenal player. This is up there with his best.
61st over: England 286-3 (Brook 101, Root 78) England need 88 to win.
60th over: England 279-3 (Brook 94, Root 78) Jadeja switches ends and the crowd roars after a Root single, pleased by the number on the big screen: England need 100 to win. There’s another cheer when it goes down to 99. Is this how it’s going to be till the finish? Jadeja, uncharacteristically, slips out a full toss to close the over and Root dispatches it to the leg side for four. England need 95 to win.
59th over: England 273-3 (Brook 93, Root 73) There’s light rain in the air as Root hotfoots it to the striker’s end for a quick single off Washington Sundar. The singles keep on coming as the umpires converge … we’ll play on. England need 101 to win.
58th over: England 270-3 (Brook 92, Root 71) Krishna finds a tasty line outside off stump to Root before providing some width; England’s No 4 gets his cut all wrong, failing to take advantage. Never mind, a gorgeous on-drive follows, bringing him two. An upper-cut is next, the single keeping Root on strike for the next over. England need 104 to win.
Adam Roberts is loving it.
Just gone 9 here in Cayman and I am glued to the tv and the OBO. My wife thought better of it than asking me to join her in a swim.
Looks like Joe had a long chat with himself after the first innings and Krishna can chirp all he wants – Joe will keep his head down and score more runs
57th over: England 265-3 (Brook 92, Root 66) India need to find their voices in the field; the current noise is all Brook and Root, calling for their ones. They take three singles off Jadeja. England need 109 to win.
56th over: England 261-3 (Brook 91, Root 64) Root mistimes a pull shot, the ball plopping close by on the offside; they still run through for a single. England need 112 to win.
Brian Withington writes in:
Am I alone in feeling that this series can’t possibly be complete unless and until a strapped up last man Chris Woakes comes out to face the second new ball one handed with two runs needed?
55th over: England 257-3 (Brook 89, Root 61) Jadeja goes a touch short and Brook pulls away to the deep midwicket rope for four, everything – hands, feet, mind – working so quickly to play that stroke. England need 117 to win.
54th over: England 251-3 (Brook 84, Root 60) Krishna is on from the Pavilion End, a short-ball field set. Brook tries the audacious, backing away to the leg side to try and swat through off … the ball is a touch high and eventually called a wide. A pull shot brings one before Root does the same two balls later. That’s 250 for England and the Oval crowd, very much entertained, show their love. England need 123 to win.
Taha Hashim
53rd over: England 246-3 (Brook 82, Root 58) Afternoon, lovely people. The floodlights are beaming down at the Oval, India returning to their positions after an important huddle at drinks. It’s Ravindra Jadeja who Shubman Gill turns to for the first time in the innings … and Root smashes the second ball down the ground for four. Harry Brook, probably itching to join in on the fun, stays calm to knock a single into the leg side. Root closes the over with one, too. Let’s get the countdown going, I reckon. England need 128 to win.
James Wallace
52nd over: England 239-3 (Root 52, Brook 81) Prasidh replaces Siraj and is clipped for two singles. That takes England to drinks with 135 more runs needed to pull off a famous run chase, the highest at the Oval.
I’m off for slurp of something cold in the stands, thanks for your company, it’s been a riot. Taha Hashim is here to call the last rites of this memorable Test series.
51st over: England 237-3 (Root 51, Brook 80) Harry Brook unleashes a pull so blistering off Akash Deep that it can barely be seen by fielders or the crowd. Fair to say Brook saw it all the way. Gloomy at the Oval but England are feeling golden at the moment.
50th over: England 228-3 (Root 50, Brook 74) Joe Root goes to fifty with a pull for four off Siraj! A shy wave of the bat from Root, he knows there’s plenty left to do. Siraj bends his back and tries to get something going with short stuff but there’s nowt doing for India at the moment.
49th over: England 221-3 (Root 49, Brook 68) The Oval emits a deep purring sound as Harry Brook drives on the up and sends a ball from Akash Deep to the hoardings at deep point. Those hands are ridic. Root clips for four more and follows up with a compact drive for three more, England collect 12 runs off the over. England fans – are you starting to believe?
48th over: England 209-3 (Root 42, Brook 63) Root runs another liquid single to backward point. Siraj gets some bite from a short ball that lifts and jags back onto Brook’s thigh pad. Don’t rub it, Don’t rub it*.
“Henry Ford was an OBO guy” writes Alex McGillivray who is currently “rolling through the mean streets of suburban Detroit feeling as rough as Tarzan’s feet, looking for a breakfast joint after yesterday’s Dearborn Homecoming. Thank God for VPNs.”
*Was that a Kings of Leon lyric?
47th over: England 208-3 (Root 41, Brook 63) The lights come on once more at the oval with Akash Deep charging in. These aren’t the easiest batting conditions but Root and Brook have made batting look remarkably simple out there. Another hour of this and England could be home and hosed. You just know a wicket changes the whole complexion though.
46th over: England 206-3 (Root 40, Brook 62) England happy to tick over in singles and twos, the latter of which from Root brings up the 100 partnership and is met with a rousing cheer from the home support.
45th over: England 203-3 (Root 38, Brook 61) Root and Brook scamper three singles off Siraj. Everyone in the ground well and truly lasered in on this chase now.
44th over: England 200-3 (Root 37, Brook 59) The England fans in the crowd stand, applaud and cheer as a Brook single off Siraj brings up England’s 200.
Richard Neal is getting his James Bond opening scene on. Bond was definitely an OBO guy.
“Been driving through the French Alps down to the coast, currently passing Marseille. Deprived of other coverage, you’re a lifeline. Here’s hoping Harry is still hitting them huge when we get to Hyeres in an hour!”
43rd over: England 196-3 (Root 36, Brook 57) Washington Sundar is summoned for a bowl from the Vauxhall End. He’s had a knack of picking up wickets in clumps in this series. How will Harry Brook treat the spin? He and Root both have a look, nudging singles from deep in the crease. Sundar then drops short and is BOSHED away off the back foot by Brook.
Desmond Niall Mullen has got his teeth gritted.
“Hey Jim, India might, like me in university, deserve a 2-2 but, as a wise man once said, deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.”
42nd over: England 190-3 (Root 35, Brook 52) India want to bowl at Joe Root and put the pressure on him but he’s such a class act that he picks off the singles and then skims a full ball from Siraj through midwicket for four. Like a pebble across plate glass. England go past the halfway mark in this chase and the Barmy Army are well aware/. Cue some Bon Jovi parps from the trumpeter.
184 runs plays 6 (or 7…) wickets.
41st over: England 186-3 (Root 31, Brook 52) Brook brings up his fifty off just 38 balls to much acclaim in the crowd. He was on 19 when Siraj spilled him.
“Sat at Waterloo station, recovering from my 12-hour stag-do in Soho last night.” Writes Jim Kerr. “Hopefully this next two hours is gonna stop me from sleeping all the way to Southampton Central.” 12 hours in Soho? Sending solidarity – more than enough to give you a simple mind this Sunday afternoon.
Sorry, it’s been a loooong morning/series.
40th over: England 181-3 (Root 29, Brook 49) Siraj to start from the Pavilion End with a point to prove and a mistake to atone for. Joe Root oozes class as he glides Siraj down through the needlepoint for four with velvet soft hands. A solid defensive push into the covers elicits another single.
39th over: England 175-3 (Root 24, Brook 48) A single each to Brook and Root off Krishna before the more vociferous England supporters in the crowd give Siraj a decent serve as he dives onto the sponge to try and stop a Brook flick through midwicket but in vain. Four runs. The lights are on at the Oval, feels very much like bowling conditions. Not that Harry Brook gives a fig, a meaty edge flies right through the gap in the slips and away for four more.
Righto. Here come the players for the afternoon session. Buckle up knuckleheads.
“Hello Jim ! On the one hand, I’ve been to eight T20 games this summer, and seen three boundary catches where the fielder has calmly tossed the ball up, stepped over the boundary, stepped back in and completed the catch. It’s a practised routine now. On the other hand, on this ground in 2005, it was the bowler who had carried the visiting attack through five Tests who dropped that catch. Fatigue plays its part.”
Don’t forget this one Tim Sanders, Boult had bowled New Zealand to the brim of the World Cup in 2019. England got over the line that day but I wouldn’t put it past Mohammed Siraj to reduce his drop to a mere footnote and bend this game India’s waythis afternoon with his skill and sheer force of character.
A lunchtime wade into the OBO mailbag reveals a rapt audience from Helsinki to Hong Kong, Lake Bled, Belize and Brixton. Fan flipping tastic.
How great that we are at lunch on day 24 of this series and it’s still in the balance. In a few hours we’ll know if it is 3-1 to England or a 2-2 draw that India more than deserve.
BIG FIRST HOUR after lunch.
Lunch: England 164-3 (need 210 more runs to win)
England dine in Hell three down with 210 more runs to get. India need six more wickets (Hello Chris, can you hold a bat?… Chris?)
What a morning of Test cricket that was, we hoped for a barnstorming finish to this series and it seems to be happening.
England plundered 114 runs for the loss of two wickets in that session, something similar this afternoon and it will be game very much on. I’m off for a toke on some smelling salts. Back soon.
38th over: England 164-3 (Root 23, Brook 38)
Here is the moment of the morning/series:
37th over: England 162-3 (Root 22, Brook 37) Brook steers a single past point and everyone just chills out a little bit as Joe Root comes on strike and plays out a calm four dots and an easy single off the last. Root is aloe vera to Brook’s screaming sunburn, the end of night kebab to Brook’s ten pints and hugging strangers on the night tube. Hold us, Joe.
36th over: England 160-3 (Root 21, Brook 36) Siraj’s sponge inflected catch keeps being shown on the big screen to loud cheers from the English. *In case you needed reminding, cricket is a cruel cruel sport*.
Akash Deep slings five wides down the leg side which doesn’t help Shubman Gill’s conniptions. There are five minutes til lunch, I imagine England will just block it out. Cue manic laughter.
35th over: England 153-3 (Root 20, Brook 35) Ok. It’s all kicking off the Oval. Brook follows up his near miss with a flay over the covers for four and then ramps over the slips entirely deliberately for four more. Sixteen runs off the over. It doesn’t feel sustainable but by flip it’s good fun.
SIRAJ CATCHES BROOK AND THEN TREADS ON THE BOUNDARY ROPE!
Oh my sweet sweet Lord! Harry Brook swivel pulls Prasidh Krishna but doesn’t quite have the legs, the ball swirls and whirls in the grey South London sky before landing safely in Siraj’s hands at deep fine leg… BUT BUT BUT BUT in taking the catch he stumbles onto the rope! Shades of Trent Boult in the World Cup final, Siraj can’t believe it, the English crowd go doolally! Brook survives and gets a six to boot. I AM CALM!
34th over: England 137-3 (Root 20, Brook 19) The lights come back on at the Oval but the gloam doesn’t mither Harry Brook – Deep drops short and is spanked through midwicket for four and then Brook follows with a charge down the wicket and a spank for SIX. England playing quietly for lunch then… the latter was some shot from Brook, one that has quickly become his trademark. Do not adust your set.
