5TH TEST MATCH, ENGLAND Vs INDIA, KENNINGTON OVAL, LONDON 2025 HIGHLIGHTS : Siraj’s 5 Wicket Haul Assured A Thriller Victory For India And Shared Test Series With England By 2-2 .
Shubman Gill’s India secured a memorable six-run win over England—the narrowest margin for India in Test cricket—during the fifth and final match at The Oval. This result brought the series to a 2-2 draw, meaning both teams shared the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Pacer Mohammed Siraj played a vital role, taking five wickets, three of them on the last day, to lead India to victory. England, needing 374 runs to win, were dismissed for 367 in a tense finish. In a remarkable scene, Chris Woakes had to bat with a dislocated shoulder. Despite making a costly misfield on Day 4 that allowed Harry Brook to continue his innings and ultimately reach a century, Siraj bounced back with a fierce spell on the final day. Prasidh Krishna contributed with four wickets, spearheading India’s comeback late on Day 4.Siraj’s 5 Wicket Haul Assured A Thriller Victory For India And Shared Test Series With England By 2-2 .
TOSS-
England won the toss and chose to field first.
PLAYING XI-
India:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (captain), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
England:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue
DAY-1
Atkinson struck early for England, trapping Yashasvi Jaiswal in front with a delivery that nipped back in, and was given out after a review. Stand-in captain Ollie Pope, who had finally won a toss at his fifth attempt, succeeded with his first review in 14 matches.
Atkinson’s opening spell was especially economical, conceding only seven runs in six overs and setting a disciplined tone. While Woakes began off his game, he found his groove after switching bowling ends, eventually dismissing KL Rahul with a delivery that moved in sharply and caught an inside edge onto the stumps.
Following Lunch, just six overs could be bowled before Tea. In that period, Shubman Gill was run out—a significant setback given his form—ending a steady 45-run partnership with Sai Sudharsan that featured sharp running and severe punishment for any loose deliveries.
After Tea, Josh Tongue delivered two exceptional balls to left-handers, dismissing Sai Sudharsan and Ravindra Jadeja with steeply rising deliveries outside off stump. India, at 123 for 5, recorded their lowest first-innings total after five wickets down in the series. Yet, considering the challenging batting conditions, they maintained a sense of control, carrying that confidence into the dressing room at stumps.
Jurel and Nair put on a quick 30 runs for the sixth wicket before the wicketkeeper-batter drove or cut at a wide delivery with feet rooted to the crease, gloving back to first slip where it was snapped up well by Harry Brook. Nair, drafted in for Shardul Thakur, and Washington Sundar, the centurion conjurer of a draw in Manchester last winter then bedded down and cashed in on a sloppy few overs from an England side who repeatedly lost their lines and put the ball on both sides of the wicket. India’s 204 extras to the day came from just 30 runs.
Nair brought up his half-century late into the day with a steer to backward square leg, and Nair and Sundar will be hoping for more before the close of play on Day 2 to be able to stop some blushes.
DAY-2
India handed back the last two overs of powerplays initiative at 261/6 alone, immediately after lunch on day three; it was one brief moment of compromise in what had been a morning session of open hostilities. Josh Tongue struck early and trapped Karun Nair in front, the overnight batter going for 23, before Atkinson wrapped up his third five-for in first-class cricket with three quick wickets to complete his job. The short-ball trap that caught Washington Sundar, and unplayable balls that bowled Siraj and Prasidh Krishna gave — or rather helpedlessness for — wickets to deliveries they had no answers. As it turned out, India could only add 20 runs to their overnight score and a large part of that was due to the extras and edges.
England’s reply was brutal. Ben Duckett (13, 10 balls) and debutant Zak Crawley (44 off 33), however, blazed their way runs out of the equation to raise a fifty in just seven overs — the joint fastest in a first innings against India. That meant the score raced out to 109 for the loss of one wicket at Lunch. It was the third-fastest team hundred against India in Test history, coming at almost seven an over in conditions that still maintained bounce and seam.
Akash Deep sat out and Siraj replaced him, making an early impact with the fourth ball of his opening spell. Ollie Pope was pinned leg-before by an in-swinger that nipped back sharply. An uneasy Joe Root, who had already exchanged words with Prasidh, also departed lbw when he was beaten on the inside edge as a ball from around the wicket that jangled in at him got through his bat push. Siraj then produced another wicked inswinger from over the wicket to send Jacob Bethell packing after rapping his boot plumb in front. His marathon spell: 8 overs, 3 wickets, 35 runs (false shot %age: 31.2)
Prasidh backed it with two wickets in that over, bowling Jamie Smith to a low catch at second slip off an away-seamer, and pinning Overton in front for a golden duck. Harry Brook played a few shots but fell on the verge of his 13th Test fifty and soon after that, England were wrapped up by none other than Siraj to fold for 247 in 51.2 overs, taking a slender lead of 23 runs. At the start of the day, Prasidh had 4 for 62.
Jaiswal showed signs of the same approach right from the start in India’s second dig as they wiped out the deficit in just 4.5 overs. Tongue had been impressing with his control but Jaiswal capitalised on the width Atkinson offered, slashing through point. He did start to open up a little – newvenue for him, was the line from Matt Prior’s press conference earlier in the day – even launching a couple of sixes off Overton, slashing and ramping short balls at his comfort.
KL Rahul (12) was drawn into a loose drive outside off by an outswinger from Tongue and edged to slip. The three dropped catches, two of which saw Jaiswal get let off the hook hurt England who were sloppy in the field during the last 45 minutes. Cordon Harry Brook; deep backward square leg Liam Dawson England finally got a win when Atkinson dismissed Sai Sudharsan lbw but by then, the tide had turned. Of a team that had lorded the desk for the morning England finished up ridiculously behind in the game.
DAY-3
Akash lashed out at anything loose, unsettling both Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue, and put together a 107-run partnership for the third wicket with Jaiswal. Jamie Overton eventually broke the stand by forcing a leading edge that was caught at point, but by then, India had already taken charge of the match. Their 100 came up inside 23 overs, as they piled on 114 runs in the morning session.
England responded in the next session, grabbing three key wickets to fight their way back. The comeback started when Gus Atkinson removed Shubman Gill with the very first ball after lunch. Gill, who had looked steady at the crease, was trapped in front by an in-seaming delivery, wrapping up his series just 20 short of Sunil Gavaskar’s famous 774-run record in an India Test series.
Karun Nair’s brief stay was shaky. He poked nervously at balls outside off, ducked into awkward short deliveries, and eventually gloved a rising ball from Atkinson to the wicketkeeper.
Meanwhile, Jaiswal reached his hundred with a push behind square—a fitting shot, since 82 of his first 100 runs had come behind square. That’s the highest for any batter at the point of completing a century out of 1,526 Test hundreds in the available records.
Out of the 88 overs England bowled, just nine were spin, as they kept returning to their fast bowlers for multiple spells. The tactic paid off late, as Jaiswal, attempting another upper cut, picked out third man and was dismissed for 118, giving Tongue a well-earned wicket.
Jadeja, who had only been dismissed once in second innings throughout the series, survived an LBW appeal thanks to DRS, which showed the impact outside off after he was struck by a Tongue yorker. He went on to pass fifty once again before driving a wide ball to Harry Brook at slip, closing his second-innings average for the series at 315, second only to Gavaskar’s legendary mark of 468 in 1971.
Dhruv Jurel contributed a fluent 34 from 46 balls before Overton trapped him LBW with one that pitched in line and just straightened enough. However, Washington Sundar kept India’s momentum going, taking on the short deliveries and pulling them into the crowd at deep square. He rushed to a fifty from 39 balls, sweeping full deliveries and managing the bounce, until a miscue to mid-wicket handed Tongue his fifth wicket—and with it, his second five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
The home team had already chased a 370-plus total against India earlier in the series, but this time the openers started cautiously. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley brought up the fifty in 13 overs—a much slower rate compared to the seven overs it took in the first innings—and looked set to reach Stumps unscathed. However, Mohammed Siraj struck with a fast, full yorker—even as the field was set for the bouncer—slipping through Crawley’s defence late in the day.
DAY-4
Ollie Pope, the nervous starter that he is, played nicely for a brief while, flicking to either side of the ground and playing an exquisite on-drive. But Siraj got the prize scalp of Smith in his very next over, with one that nipped back off the divots, seamed sharply in and pinged him bang in front. By dismissing Smith, Siraj registered his 20th wicket of the series as he finished as the highest wicket-taker.
Brook’s century earlier in the day had swung the game towards England. This was his 10th century in Test cricket and the quickest hundred for a fourth-innings effort scored against India. This time round it was in one that hitherto had been the most bowler-friendly session of the match. His innings was studded with 14 boundaries and two sixes, the most fortuitous of which came on 19 off a mistimed pull to fine leg from Krishna. Siraj, who had just come back from an inspired eight-over spell, took the catch but not before crossing over onto the rope.
Then his stand with Root smashed India into the mid-session dirt with 153 runs in an afternoon session before they had to give away a wicket on their own. Brook fell to 111 charging down the track against Akash Deep, but this time if found Siraj who took a straight forward catch. Yet, by then the breaches had already been caused and India was looking down the barrel of another fourth-innings defeat defending a 370 plus total vs England. In Edgbaston 2022 and Headingley 2025, they crashed to two such defeats in the last three years.
Akash was largely ineffective with the old ball, left to much of the work in the seam department after India went spin from both ends after lunch. However his sacking of Brook presented them with an unexpected avenue back into the game. The next chance came soon after, when Jacob Bethell top-edged a pull but survived as Akash’s spikes got planted awkwardly into the pitch while trying to take a straightforward return catch.
DAY-5
India’s resurgence began at the opposite end, where Jamie Smith was beaten twice in succession by Siraj before edging one behind to the keeper, departing on his overnight score of 2. Siraj, along with India, nearly claimed another wicket off the very next delivery, but Gus Atkinson was fortunate as his edge landed short of KL Rahul at second slip.
Overton’s luck soon expired. Siraj trapped him with a delivery angling into middle and leg; umpire Kumar Dharmasena, after a brief pause, ruled him out LBW. Overton reviewed the decision, but with the ball-touching ‘umpire’s call’ on wickets, the original verdict stood. The review worked in Josh Tongue’s favor in the next over, when Prasidh’s appeal for LBW was overturned—ball tracking indicated it would have missed leg stump.
Following several near-misses against Siraj, Tongue was finally bowled by a precise yorker from Prasidh, leaving England still 17 runs adrift and forcing them to summon the injured Woakes. Woakes entered to enthusiastic applause, holding the bat in his left hand while his main arm rested in a sling.
Atkinson then did everything possible to keep Woakes off strike—declining singles until late in the over and attempting big shots. His very first aggressive attempt might have been caught at the boundary, but Akash Deep misjudged it and tipped the ball over the rope for six.
Ultimately, Siraj’s determination outlasted England’s resilient last-wicket partnership. He delivered a perfect yorker to bowl Atkinson for 17, securing a memorable triumph for India in front of a nearly full Oval crowd.
Brief scores:
India 224 (Karun Nair 57; Gus Atkinson 5-33, Josh Tongue 3-57) & 396 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 118, Akash Deep 66, Washington Sundar 53, Ravindra Jadeja 53; Josh Tongue 5-125, Gus Atkinson 3-127) defeated England 247 (Zak Crawley 64, Harry Brook 53; Prasidh Krishna 4-62, Mohd. Siraj 4-86) & 367 (Harry Brook 111, Joe Root 105; Mohd. Siraj 5-104, Prasidh Krishna 4-126) by 6 runs.
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