Siraj five seals Oval epic as India level series 2-2

Mohammed Siraj starred in a stunning come-from-behind win at The Oval as India levelled the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2-2 with a thrilling six-run victory on an overcast fifth morning in London. England needed 35 runs with four wickets in hand, one of which was Chirs Woakes with a dislocated right shoulder. Siraj, however, got the ball to swing as much as two degrees amidst a drizzle, and picked up three wickets in a testing spell with the old ball to finish with a fifer that scripted a memorable win.

It was Harry Brook and Joe Root's hundreds, and a 195-run stand, on Day 4 that gave England the upper hand before a short sharp spell of rain shortly after Tea forced action to spill into the fifth day. Prasidh Krishna resumed his over from last evening with a short ball first up, and Jamie Overton pulled him confidently to the fence to begin with a boundary. He almost chopped on the next ball, but the edge snuck over the stumps and into the fine leg ropes for four more.

India's comeback started at the other end where Jamie Smith was beaten twice by Siraj before he finally nicked one behind without adding anything to his overnight score of 2. Siraj, and India, could have had a second wicket in as many deliveries but Gus Atinkson lucked out when the edge dropped just short of KL Rahul at second slip.

Overton's luck then ran out. Siraj had him trapped in front of middle and leg with a nip-backer and saw umpire Kumar Dharmasena raise his finger after a moment of deliberation. Overton availed a review, only to find 'umpire's call' on wickets and see the finger raised again. The review came to Josh Tongue's rescue in the following over when he was adjudged LBW, off Prasidh, but the tracking found the ball to be going down leg.

Tongue, after a bunch of play-and-a-miss against Siraj, was then cleaned up by a pinpoint yorker from Prasidh, leaving England 17 away with no option but to call on the injured Woakes. The allrounder walked out to a rousing applause - bat in the left hand and his dominant arm in a sling.

Atkinson did his part in ensuring Woakes stayed at the non-striker's end. It involved refusing singles until the last deliveries of the overs, and targeting big hits - the very first attempt at which could have been caught in the deep but Akash Deep palmed it over for a six instead.

Fittingly, it was Siraj's tenacity that prevailed over England's last pair's valiant fight. The pacer nailed a yorker to clean up Atkinson on 17, propelling India to a momentous win in front of a near capacity Oval.

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) beat 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.