England vs India, 5th Test - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Thank you, India and England. This was a Test series of the highest order. This was the Ali vs Foreman of cricket - a battle where two heavyweights went blow for blow to make the whole world rumble with excitement. A battle where after 25 days of hard, grueling cricket we still had no outright victors. Just two champion teams in their own right who have given the red ball some reverence once again in this age of T20 extravagance. What can we say but thank you! This is Saurabh Shankar signing off on behalf of Ramakrishnan MS, Anurag Hegde and Siva.

So a real coming of age series for Shubman Gill the captain and Shubman Gill the batter. It was the series where the Prince took gentle strides to elevate himself closer to being a King. He has captained admirably, taking the fight to the English players in this gnarly series while elevating his batting to a different celestial plane through this series. First series for this new look Indian team without Kohli and Rohit, and the batters came up well. The efforts of the Indian bowlers, especially Mohammed Siraj, cannot be understated as they bowled with gusto throughout the series, despite playing on some fairly flat pitches. Tired, knackered, depleted but never dismayed, the Indian fast bowlers have put on a truly praise worthy performance. The transition is seeming smooth, the future looking bright!

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you, except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’. Rudyard Kipling wrote these lines in his famous poem 'If' and that is probably what Ben Stokes reads every morning before walking out to play. With bruised, aching shoulders and hamstrings, Ben Stokes walked out everyday of this tour looking the fittest, bowling tireless long spells and leading the way. And his players obliged to his lead, with Brook, Duckett, Root and Jamie Smith batting fearlessly as his bowlers ran through brick walls to do a job for the team. England have retained the fearlessness of Bazball and amalgamated into it a maturity of modern day to become one of the most feared yet entertaining teams going around in all of cricket. In a nation where cricket is often the much neglected auxiliary to football, Ben and Baz and the rest of the boys have given the nation an unforgettable summer of English cricket. This summer drew memories of Ashes 2005 - the series that redefined cricket forever in these parts of the woods. So England can be proud of themselves because their entertaining ways have livened up a format that is often prematurely declared dead.

The final armageddon, 5th Test, The Oval:

On a much more grassy surface, the bowlers found a lot more joy in the first innings. A gritty Karun Nair fifty, with some contributions from Sai Sudharsan and Sundar helped India cross 200. Gus Atkinson was lethal on his return, ending up with a fifer as India bundled out for 224. In reply, England were quick off the blocks with 92 runs within the first 13 overs. A sensational long burst from Mohammed Siraj in the second session triggered a middle-order mess up as England were bowled out for 247. In the second innings, the pitch flattened out slightly and Jaiswal notched up his second century of this tour, while Washington Sundar got a breezy fifty to set a daunting target of 374. The target proved to be daunting only on paper, as England countered through a blistering Harry Brook century, while Joe Root got a ton of his own. India’s seamers looked distraught, but they found a second wind as Siraj and Prasidh found prodigious movement, as England were reduced from 301/3 to 367 all out. Siraj sizzled with his yorkers, Prasidh packed a punch through his away swingers and India pulled out an absolute rabbit out of the bag. Chris Woakes came out to bat one-handed, but it wasn’t to be England’s day as India fought back to level the series.

The defiance in denial, 4th Test, Old Trafford:

Draws are seen as Test cricket’s great evil, its anomaly, its detractor and yet, the staunch stalemate at Manchester was anything but that. India’s first innings was one of unconverted starts and in reply, England piled up a mountain on a docile pitch. Stokes, who picked up a fifer with the ball, struck a resounding ton in addition to Root’s 150 as England amassed 669. It left England as the only possible victor but that didn’t mean India were damned to defeat. Two partnerships - first between Rahul and Gill and then between Jadeja and Washington - characterized India’s dogged defiance as they kept England at bay. One side’s relentless charge towards victory halted by the other’s unshakeable defiance - a case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object - only relenting once the whistle was blown. The casualties of battle, however, stung both teams. India lost Rishabh Pant, who to everyone’s awe and amazement still batted with a broken foot, and England lost their leader Stokes whose body couldn’t endure the demands of his spirit.

Sloping away - 3rd Test, Lord’s:

The Third Test at Lord’s was the memorable main course of the series where a thriller was served with a dash of spice and a side of drama. A century from Root was matched by one from Rahul and there wasn’t a run to separate the two sides after both had batted once. Washington Sundar then starred with the ball, claiming a 4-fer as India rolled England out for 192 in their second dig. A victory that India thought was in sight quickly grew distant as England ran rampant with the ball, reducing India to 112/8. The full story, though, hadn’t quite unraveled itself yet. Time almost stood still as Ravindra Jadeja dragged India forward, run-by-run, while also shrewdly guarding his tail-ender partners. Just when India’s hope was turning into belief, a ball cruelly snaked back onto Siraj’s stumps while he actually defended it perfectly, leaving us with a famous image of Siraj hunched over his bat - one that will live long in the annals of Test cricket.

The Prince that was promised - 2nd Test, Edgbaston:

Heading into the series, the pressure and clamour around Shubman Gill would have been unreal. Just a flat track bully? Not good enough for SENA? A rookie captain? The Prince however silenced his doubters as he took charge in his new kingdom, with a double century in the first innings and a ton in the second, while getting tidy contributions from Jadeja, Jaiswal and Pant as well. Shubman Gill was pretty much flawless throughout both innings, piling on a mountain of runs for his team. England were reeling at 83/5, before a 303-run partnership between Harry Brook and Jamie Smith dug them out of a hole. They still surrendered a lead of over 100 runs, and then succumbed to some majestic seam bowling by Akash Deep in the second innings. Jamie Smith held fort for a while, but the Indian bowling was too much to handle as the visitors came storming back into the series with a 336-run victory.

Bazball 2.0 - 1st Test, Headingley:

In an absolute run fest at Headingley, India got centuries through Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant in the very first innings of this long Test series. However, Josh Tongue ran through the lower-order as India went from 430/3 to 471 all out. In reply, England got a century from Pope and 99 from Harry Brook alongside some handy lower-order contributions to finish with 465. India got tons from KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant in the second innings, but the rest of the batters were meek with another lower order collapse. England were set a mammoth target of 371 runs but the task got easy after an opening partnership of 188 runs. Duckett crafted a masterful century, and then a fifty from Root and 44 from Jamie Smith helped England seal the second-highest run chase at Leeds. England played with poise and maturity, staying in complete control of the chase. India’s beleaguered bowlers were Bazball-ed into submission by the end.

What a riveting Test series. Here's a quick summary of all the five Tests!

Stats courtesy our stats boys Deepu Narayanan and Shashikant

Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025
Second-most runs aggregate in a series (7187)
Joint-most 300-plus team totals in a series (14)
Most batters scoring 400-plus in a series (9)
Joint-most individual 50-plus scores (50)
Joint-most individual centuries' scores (21)
Joint-most hundred partnerships added (19)

Most wickets for India in a Test series in England
23 - Jasprit Bumrah, 2021-22
23 - Mohammed Siraj, 2025*
19 - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 2014

Lowest defeat margins for England (runs)
1 vs NZ, Wellington, 2023
3 vs AUS, Manchester, 1902
6 vs AUS, Sydney, 1885
6 vs IND, The Oval, 2025*

This is the first time India has won the 5th match of a Test series away from home.

Lowest win margins for India (runs)
6 vs ENG, The Oval, 2025*
13 vs AUS, Wankhede, 2004
28 vs ENG, Kolkata, 1972
31 vs AUS Adelaide, 2018