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| @Harry Brook celebrates after scoring a century vs India in fifth Test at The Oval 2025 |
India vs England 5th Test, Day 4 Overview: August 3, 2025
Day four of the fifth Test between India and England at The Oval on August 3, 2025, was an emotional roller coaster, where the attempt of England to chase a mammoth score of 374 runs was the focus of attention. The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy was at stake in a highly competitive series and England closed the day at 339/6 after 76.2 overs with the match at just 35 runs away to win the match and thereby win the series 3-1. India, however, needed three wickets (in actual sense four wickets, since Chris Woakes was injured) to level the series 2-2. Bad light and rain cut short play early, to produce a dramatic climax on the final day.
Morning Session: india's Fightback Begins
England continued their second innings with the same score, 50/1, as they left off the previous evening with Ben Duckett (34*) and Zak Crawley both out of the game as a result of Mohammed Siraj delivering an unforgettable yorker. Bowlers led by Siraj and Prasidh Krishna emerged with a purpose, close-in fielders were busy and active. Prasidh got the first wicket by dismissing Duckett 54, caught on second slip, reducing England to 106/3 just before lunch. Siraj continued with this by getting rid of Ollie Pope with 27 runs, hurting England even more. Indian seamers bowled well with discipline leveraging the pressure of the chase but a pivotal moment was when Prasidh bowled a catch to Siraj at long-leg on Harry Brook. Brook, now 19, took his chance and he counterattacked, with a four and a six in the same over, and momentum swung back to England.
The lapses in fielding that has been a common trend in the series also hurt India. Brooks reprieve gave him time to adjust and together with Joe Root they started to rebuild. At lunch, England was on 164/3, Brook on 38 and Root on 23, and needing 210 more runs. The half-chances India wasted with the bowlers, even after their initial breakthroughs, were a source of frustration as Akash Deep flailing on the rope to prevent a boundary was emblematic of their frustration.
Afternoon Session: Brook and Root are on the Top England, after lunch, gained the upper hand and was driven by a brilliant 195-run stand between Brook and Root. Brook, as he had gone before, played with abandon and hooked both seamers and spinners. His bullish style has seen him career to a 98-ball century, his second of the series, which was marked by a blistering recognition of the fans. At the other end, Root, who scored his 39th Test hundred with a two off his pads, played the role of anchor and dedicated it to his late mentor Graham Thorpe with an emotional act of wearing a white headband. The alliance had destroyed the Indian bowling attack and Brook had run-a-ball 111 and Root had a composed 105 putting England on the right track at tea with only 57 needed at 317/4. The bowlers of India had a hard time in curbing the runs. As the captain, Shubman Gill had no choice but to change his seamers on a regular basis with Akash Deep and Siraj visibly getting fatigued. Brook and Root also focused on the spinners and in particular Ravindra Jadeja and were able to switch off strike easily when the field was spread. A dropped catch and a misfield that was a boundary also added to the misery of India as the aggressive way they played Test cricket of England was on the verge of accomplishing one of the greatest chases in their Test cricket history.
Afternoon Session: Brook and Root are on the Top England, after lunch, gained the upper hand and was driven by a brilliant 195-run stand between Brook and Root. Brook, as he had gone before, played with abandon and hooked both seamers and spinners. His bullish style has seen him career to a 98-ball century, his second of the series, which was marked by a blistering recognition of the fans. At the other end, Root, who scored his 39th Test hundred with a two off his pads, played the role of anchor and dedicated it to his late mentor Graham Thorpe with an emotional act of wearing a white headband. The alliance had destroyed the Indian bowling attack and Brook had run-a-ball 111 and Root had a composed 105 putting England on the right track at tea with only 57 needed at 317/4. The bowlers of India had a hard time in curbing the runs. As the captain, Shubman Gill had no choice but to change his seamers on a regular basis with Akash Deep and Siraj visibly getting fatigued. Brook and Root also focused on the spinners and in particular Ravindra Jadeja and were able to switch off strike easily when the field was spread. A dropped catch and a misfield that was a boundary also added to the misery of India as the aggressive way they played Test cricket of England was on the verge of accomplishing one of the greatest chases in their Test cricket history.
Evening Session: The Dramatic Revival of India
India came up with the unexpected recovery when everything was under control by England. Akash Deep, who had already scored 66 in the second-innings of Indian team, ended the Brook-Root alliance when he dismissed Brook (111) who was caught at mid-off after mishitting at an adventurous stroke. The wicket revived the Indian camp and Prasidh Krishna did not miss it out and sent Jacob Bethell back who could not get into the rhythm and did not make a low score despite having faced 85 balls in the series. The biggest blow was delivered when Prasidh dismissed Joe Root behind the stumps to hand Dhruv Jurel his first in the match leaving England at 339/6. The high decibel fielding in India and continuous bowling had turned the game upside down with England only needing 35 runs with Jamie Smith (2*) and Jamie Overton (0*) at the crease.
Chris Woakes was nursing a shoulder injury and sported his arm in a sling and was unlikely to bat unless absolutely necessary, which effectively reduced England to four wickets. India had put their last moment hope on their seamers and particularly Siraj and Prasidh to provide them a final spurt on the fifth day. However, the poor light and rain arrived and 76.2 overs were called off. The fans felt aggrieved with the umpires agreeing to call off the play at 6 PM and commentators like Stuart Broad could not understand why the decision to call off was taken early as it was a serious game and the match was full at The Oval.
Key Performance and Context:
England was left with a huge target of 396 as India scored 396 in their second innings powered by Yashasvi Jaiswal (118), Akash Deep (66), his first Test fifty, Jadeja (53) and Washington Sundar (53). The chase of England was strengthened by the fact that they have successfully chased high scores in the past such as in the first Test of this series where they scored 371 against South Africa and in the previous 2022 Test against India where they scored 378. They were however kept in the game by the resilience of India who had shown their fighting spirit in drawing the fourth test at Old Trafford. England did not have a specialist spinner in their bowling attack and six catches had been dropped which had enabled India to reach a difficult score.
As far as England is concerned, Brooks explosion of a hundred and the calculated ton by Root indicated the depth in England batting but late wickets left India with a fighting chance. It was a blockbuster already as all five Tests had ended on the fifth day, and the series was set to climax in a fascinating way. Indian bowling, spearheaded by Siraj and Prasidh, had to make use of the initial conditions on Day 5 and England had to pin hopes on Smith and Overton to get the remaining runs.
With the match at the last day, the formula was too tempting, England required 35, India needed three wickets. The weather, which had been so far a spoilsport, continued to be so, though there should be a sunny day ahead, so there would be a result. The historic Oval was all ready to stage a thrilling finale in a cricket series that had drawn the attention of the cricket enthusiasts all over the world.
Brief Score: India 224& 396 lead England 247& 339/6 (Brook 111, Root 105, Duckett 54; Krishna 3/109, Siraj 2/95) by 35 runs.