Nair's fifty steadies India on green-top as England's inexperience shows

After four dud pitches, the series finale finally stirred to life with a green-top under low, grey skies at The Oval, just as you'd expect in England. That Karun Nair chose the toughest batting conditions of the summer to score his first fifty of the series said plenty about him, but also about an Indian side that ended the 64-over opening day of the fifth and final Test at 204 for 6.

Three of the six wickets fell to unforced errors, including a run out of captain Shubman Gill, who had looked assured in hostile conditions and set a smart template for tap-and-run cricket when runs were hard to come by. But he misjudged one and lost his stumps to a direct hit from Gus Atkinson, the standout bowler of the day who could do little wrong.

England would know this was the kind of pitch tailormade for quick all-outs but wayward lines and lengths cost them, evidence of an attack still wet behind the ears. Josh Tongue picked up two wickets but leaked runs at 3.6 an over, while Jamie Overton looked short of rhythm and was expensive in these conditions, going at 4.1. Chris Woakes, clutching his shoulder after a tumble in the outfield and walking off in pain, only added to their growing list of concerns later in the day.

This was India's 15th toss loss in men's internationals this year, and the fifth in a row in this series. As has been the trend, it meant another brush with the pointy end of conditions. Both openers fell in a rain-curtailed first session, which saw just 23 overs bowled.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was trapped by a sharp nip-backer from Atkinson, given out on review, as stand-in skipper Ollie Pope, having just won his first toss in five attempts, got his first successful referral in 14 tries.

Atkinson gave away just seven runs in a tight six-over burst to help set the tone. Woakes looked off-colour early on, but switched ends and eventually found rhythm. He cramped KL Rahul for room with a hard-length ball that jagged back in and forced a chop-on.

Only six overs were possible between Lunch and Tea, but they included Gill's run-out, a big blow considering his recent form. Especially because he and Sai Sudharsan had added calm during a 45-run stand built on sharp singles and punishing anything too full or too short.

After Tea, Tongue produced two outstanding deliveries to left-handers. Sudharsan and Ravindra Jadeja could do little but edge steeply bouncing deliveries on off stump. At 123 for 5, India had their lowest first-innings score at the fall of the fifth wicket in this series but given how tough the conditions were for batting, they still looked relatively in control, a sentiment they took back to the dressing room at the end of day's play.

Dhruv Jurel and Nair added 30 brisk runs for the sixth wicket before the wicketkeeper-batter fell to a half-cut, half-punch that caught the edge to slips, where Harry Brook took a good catch. Nair, brought in for Shardul Thakur, and Washington Sundar, the centurion from the gritty draw in Manchester, then settled in and cashed in on a poor phase from England, who repeatedly missed their lines and leaked runs on both sides of the wicket. Thirty of India's 204 runs on the day came in extras.

Late in the day, Nair brought up his half-century with a glance to backward square leg and India will hope that he and Sundar carry the fight into Day 2 and push the total into more comfortable territory.

Brief Scores: India 204/6 (Nair 52*, Sudharsan 38; Tongue 2-47, Atkinson 2-31) vs England.