LONDON (AP) — A gloomy, drizzly London morning. The final day of a fifth test. Just 35 runs or four wickets away from victory.
Those are not usually temptations for selling a bunch of match tickets.
But the Oval was sold out on Monday in goosebump anticipation of a dramatic end to the England-India series, and a buzzing crowd of 27,000 wasn't disappointed.
The action lasted for only an hour and 8.5 overs but every ball drew a roller-coaster of emotions as India won by a measly six runs in a fitting climax to a series that finished in a 2-2 draw.
Adding to the drama, England allrounder Chris Woakes came out to bat one-handed with a dislocated left shoulder tucked in a sling under his jersey.
Woakes ran a bye in obvious agony — his left arm fell out of the sling — and was protected by teammate Gus Atkinson from facing a ball. But Atkinson couldn't safeguard his own wicket for long and was the last man out, missing his attempted sweep and bowled by a Mohammed Siraj full toss.
England, in pursuit of an Oval-record 374, was all out for 367.
Siraj took off running with arms out in airplane mode; his third wicket in the hour gave him five wickets in the innings and nine in the match.
“Siraj is a captain's dream,” India captain Shubman Gill said. “Gave it his all every ball and every spell he bowled.”
Gill, the first-time captain who became the all-time leading run-scorer in any single England-India series, was named co-player of the series beside Harry Brook, whose 111 on Sunday lifted England in sight of clinching the series 3-1.
“To rock up with a crowd like this today when we needed 30-odd runs to win is phenomenal,” Brook said. "I don't think we could get support like that in any other series, other than the Ashes.
“We have not left anything out on that pitch. We have been absolutely knackered. A very intense test series, but a very enjoyable one.”
The Woakes effect
Woakes arguably had the biggest effect on the Oval test by his absence, after hurting his shoulder while fielding on day one Thursday.
He didn't bat when England replied to India's 224 with 247 for a 23-run lead on the first innings. He also didn't bowl as India racked up 396 to set the target of 374, requiring England to achieve its second highest successful run chase, eclipsing the 371 rundown in Leeds in the series opener.
By the time Woakes walked out on Monday to a standing ovation, England was nine down and 17 runs from winning.
Atkinson farmed the strike. When he swept Siraj, the ball popped out of Akash Deep's hands and over the cow corner boundary for a six, to reduce the runs required to 11.
Atkinson kept Woakes off strike for two consecutive overs but at the start of the third he was dismissed by Siraj and the series was over.
India took time out of its on-field celebrations to approach Woakes and applaud his pluck, another fitting end to a series in which emotions bubbled over from the drawn third test at Lord's onwards.
India exceed expectations
India, trying to win a series in England for the first time since 2007, lost the toss in all five tests but exceeded expectations by winning more sessions.
It was a tribute to Gill and his inexperienced team that the fight they put up diminished talk about the pre-series retirements of India greats Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin.
“Before the series we spoke about how we didn't want to be looked at as a young team,” Gill said. ”We wanted to be a gun team and I think we showed that today."
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Lokesh Rahul put Sharma in the shade, and Gill met the No. 4 traditions of Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli.
Gill was questioned about his lack of scores overseas and began preparing for the series during the Indian Premier League. He stamped his authority in India's first bat with 147, the first of his four centuries in the series.
“We weren't given a chance but we've fought in every game and got 2-2,” 11-year test veteran Rahul said. "For Indian test cricket this will rank right at the top and this is where change begins. The India test team will win a lot more series.
“Not having Rohit, Virat, Ashwin hit me two weeks in. Everyone was coming to me to ask about English conditions. Then it hit me, I've stepped into a different role now. Gill's been phenomenal. He's formed connections. Tactically good, changes have gotten us wickets. He'll go on to become a good test captain.”
Gill was the series leading run-scorer with 754, more than 200 more than Joe Root, and Siraj was the leading wicket-taker with 23, playing all five tests and still bowling at 90 mph (145 kph) on the final day.
Also remarkably, premier bowler Jasprit Bumrah was restricted for workload reasons to three tests and India's two wins were without him.
Ashes next
For England, Root's 500-plus runs lifted him to second on the all-time test runs list behind only Tendulkar. Fast bowler Jofra Archer returned after four years with venom and was keen to be available for the year-ending Ashes.
Captain Ben Stokes was England's most effective bowler but exhausted himself into a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the Oval test. He was looking forward to being well rested for the first Ashes test against Australia starting on Nov. 21 in Perth.
Stokes praised his Oval seam attack — depleted of himself, Archer and Woakes — for running India so close.
“When one of your bowlers goes down so early in the game, the role of the other seamers changes,” Stokes told the BBC. "Even in the second innings, the heart and desire they showed was amazing. There were many what-ifs in the last five days, makes the game great, but all (coach) Brendon (McCullum) and I asked was to give it everything. (Josh) Tongue, Atkinson and (Jamie) Overton showed it.
“The way in which we've been able to perform throughout the series, I'm looking forward to getting to Australia and doing what we want to go out there and do.”
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
The Associated Press
