Left arm in a sling, face wrought with agony, Chris Woakes could only look on helplessly from the far end.Mohammed Siraj detonated Gus Atkinson’s off stump at 11.56am on Monday to seal a six-run triumph for India and end one of the most intense hours of Test cricket ever witnessed.
A series that seemed to have it all saved its best for last, a mini-session of unrivalled gut-twisting, tortuous drama that instantly made this fifth Test an all-time classic. Needing 35 runs to chase down 374, four wickets in hand, England collapsed in a wall of Indian noise inside a packed Oval and the first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy was shared with a 2-2 scoreline.
It was fitting Siraj should land the final blow, India’s firecracker the only fast bowler to go the distance in a series that positively chewed players up and spat them out over 25 gruelling days. England had been cruising a day earlier, centuries from Harry Brook and Joe Root their rocket fuel, only for Siraj to bend the script to his will with a stunning five-wicket haul.
Woakes was the only other seamer to play all five, but a dislocated shoulder on day one left him a bystander. That was until the fall of Josh Tongue’s wicket, 17 still needed, saw him walk down the steps to a standing ovation. Left arm hidden under his cable-knit, bat in the other hand, and intending to play as a southpaw if necessary, one of England’s most dependable and selfless cricketers had answered his country’s call.
But this was India’s day, a day in which the lap of honour that Shubman Gill led his players on afterwards felt fully deserved. From the moment Woakes had the tourists none for two in Manchester – more than 300 runs adrift and 2-1 down – they fought tooth and nail to earn a deserved share of the spoils. When asked what he had learned from his first tour as captain, the soft-spoken Gill smiled and replied: “We never give up.”
In the end Woakes did not face a ball during his 16 minutes in the middle, albeit simply running left him in distress every time. Atkinson protected him across 13 balls, scampering a bye, a two, and single to keep that way. And one full-blooded heave from the Surrey man, tipped over the rope for six by Akash Deep, gave the seemingly outnumbered England fans hope.
But when just one more clean hit would have tied the scores and guaranteed a 3-1 series victory for the hosts, Siraj delivered. Having already turned a gloomy morning in south London into a sizzling psychodrama with two early strikes, he simply could not be denied. Some 20,000 people soon walked out the turnstiles into the midday bustle of the capital in a state of disbelief.
And to think the bad light farce that plunged this series into its final morning was thought to have stopped India in their tracks, resetting Jamie Smith and England’s lower order after an ordeal the previous evening. Not one bit of it. While Jamie Overton carved two early fours off Prasidh Krishna, Siraj got the 76-over hooping, with the tentative Smith then tickling his third ball of the morning behind to trigger what became a lasting wave of English dread.
Atkinson was dropped by KL Rahul slip second ball — a tough one, fingers not getting quite underneath it — and Overton eventually fell to Siraj via a tight lbw. Tongue saw another overturned but only to be yorked for a 12-ball duck by an 87mph howitzer from Krishna, who was second billing to Siraj but something of a revelation in this finale in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.
Siraj equalled Bumrah’s record for an Indian in England with 23 wickets and after six weeks dominated by the bat – 7,187 runs was a record across five Tests – he could easily have been player of the series. Instead, despite remarkably hitting 90mph on the final morning, Siraj had to settle for player of the match, with Gill’s celestial 754-run tally earning him the top prize.
There will doubtless be ups and downs ahead for Gill, who is learning on the job. But after calmly marshalling his country’s tightest ever Test win, and having lived up to the expectations of a No4 spot occupied by Virat Kiohli and Sachin Tendulkar before him, the 25-year-old has started superbly.
Brook was England’s player of the series which, notwithstanding that incredible 111 on the fourth day, felt like a touch of recency bias. Had England got over the line for a 3-1 win then Ben Stokes would surely have merited this after 303 runs, 17 wickets, and two player of the match awards that ended with him missing the finale for yet more soft-tissue rehabilitation.
As it was Stokes had to settle for another near-miss, his side unquestionably rejuvenated these past three years but still to defeat India or Australia in a series. The fact they threatened a second 370-plus run chase in the space of six weeks spoke volumes but the bowling — heartening returns for Jofra Archer and Atkinson notwithstanding — remains a work in progress.
For those in Australia who watched the final act — and interest has clearly been piqued, more so than by their national team’s one-sided Caribbean tour — appetites can only have whetted for the Ashes. Despite falling short here, England will be a different proposition to the sides that have barely competed on their shores since the win in 2010/11.
After a titanic series that pushed players to the limits, saw verbals and moral judgements traded, and ended with a stricken Woakes courageously defying the pain, only for another warrior in Siraj to prevail, that much-anticipated clash this winter has a lot to live up to.
