An England attack shorn of Ben Stokes mixed erratic and excellent bowling to reduce India to 204-6 from 64 overs on a rain-hit day one of the fifth Test as Chris Woakes suffered a big injury scare.
Woakes banged his left shoulder trying to cut off a boundary late in the day and headed off the field with his arm wrapped up in his shirt as a makeshift sling, potentially depriving the hosts of their most experienced seamer for the rest of the game at The Kia Oval.
Gus Atkinson (2-31) was superb but Josh Tongue (2-47) conceded 11 wides across three deliveries in a wayward opening over before returning in the evening to nick off Sai Sudharsan (38) and Ravindra Jadeja (9) with unplayable, near-identical out-swingers.
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England’s Chris Woakes goes down in pain after an awkward landing on his left shoulder late on against India.
England – 2-1 up in the series and looking to secure a first victory in a Test series of five matches since beating India 4-1 at home in 2018 – shipped 30 extras across the day, 16 of them wides, after stand-in skipper Ollie Pope elected to bowl on a green surface.
At times it appeared the much-changed hosts – there were four changes from the drawn fourth Test, including the absence of Stokes (shoulder) and recalls for seamers Tongue, Atkinson and Jamie Overton – would fail to capitalise on juicy bowling conditions.
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Carbon copy! England fast bowler Josh Tongue dismissed Sai Sudharsan and Ravindra Jadeja with superb out-swingers
But Tongue’s twin strikes as well as two comeback wickets and a run out for Surrey’s Gus Atkinson on his home ground, as he returned from a hamstring injury sustained against Zimbabwe in May, left the home side in a strong position – Woakes’ injury aside
Atkinson was the pick of the England pace unit – an accolade Stokes had taken across the first four Tests with 17 wickets at 25.33 – while Surrey team-mate Overton (0-66) went at in excess of four an over in his first Test since his 2022 debut.
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Tongue conceded ELEVEN wides in his first over of the Oval Test
India’s Karun Nair notched an unbeaten 52 during a half-century stand with Washington Sundar (19no) and the away side will hope to kick on on Friday, with their opponents likely to be a bowler down.
Pope gets review right – at last!
It took Atkinson just seven legal balls to strike, pinning Yashasvi Jaiswal (2) lbw on review after Pope registered his first successful use of DRS as England captain at the 15th attempt, following a dreadful time in that regard when stepping in for Stokes previously.
England’s review showed that Atkinson had pinned both of Jaiswal’s pads with a nip-backer that avoided the inside edge.
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Ollie Pope FINALLY secured a successful review as England captain – at the 15th attempt – as Yashasvi Jaiswal was out lbw
Unfortunately, the rain could not be avoided.
Wet weather shaved the final seven minutes off the opening session and returned 30 minutes after the afternoon action finally began at 3pm, leading to another delay until an uninterrupted final two hours and 45 minutes from 4.45pm.
The second pause came shortly after Atkinson had run out India skipper Shubman Gill (21) with a direct hit – the England quick fielding off his own bowling and striking middle stump as the tourists attempted a single that was never on and slipped to 83-3.
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England’s Gus Atkinson runs out India skipper Shubman Gill with a direct hit after fielding off his own bowling
Woakes (1-46) – who has now played all five Tests in this series – had earlier forced KL Rahul (14) to chop on to his stumps, securing England their second wicket.
After Tongue’s out-swing double in the evening accounted for left-handers Sudharsan and Jadeja, Atkinson had Dhruv Jurel (19) – into the India side for injured fellow wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant (fractured foot) – caught at slip by Harry Brook, one delivery after the right-hander successfully overturned an lbw dismissal.
Watch day two of the fifth Test between England and India, at The Kia Oval, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.15am on Friday (first ball at 11am) or stream without a contract.
England vs India – results and schedule
All games at 11am UK and Ireland; all on Sky Sports
