Fast bowler Mohammad Siraj emerged as the hero on a dramatic final day of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy as India edged past England by just six runs at The Oval to level the Test series 2-2.
England needed 35 runs at the start of the 25th and final day of the series with four wickets in hand. But Siraj (5-104) and Prasidh Krishna (4-126) gave nothing away and bowled an unbroken spell to secure a famous win.
Chasing 374, the onus was on wicketkeeper batter Jamie Smith to take his team home, especially since seamer Chris Woakes had injured his shoulder and could only use one hand if called upon.
But Smith was the first to depart, edging Siraj behind in the second over of the morning.
Both Indian seamers had the ball moving at high pace and it was only a matter of time before the tail-enders lost their wickets.
When Jamie Overton was trapped lbw for nine, England were 354-8 and 20 runs away.
Krishna castled Josh Tongue with a pacey delivery two overs later to force Woakes to come out to bat, with the England seamer emerging with his left-arm in a sling and tucked inside a sweater.
Thereafter, pacer Gus Atkinson tried to farm the strike even at the danger of losing his wicket. He belted one six off Siraj as the equation came down to single digits.
However, Siraj had the final say as he landed a yorker at the base of Atkinson’s off stump to seal victory that not only handed Shubman Gill a famous 2-2 result in his first series as captain, but also gave India crucial World Test Championship points.
“It means so much,” said Gill. “This was a very hard-fought series. Both teams throwing punches and you could never really predict after day four who was going to win the match.
“We are a young team but before the start of the series, we spoke about how we didn’t want to be looked at as a young team. We wanted to be a gun team and we showed that today.”
The match looked set for a thrilling finish on Sunday itself as India struck late in the evening to reduce to England 339-6 after the match looked done and dusted after sensational centuries from Harry Brook and Joe Root.
Brook and Root shared a superb fourth-wicket stand of 195 to put England on the brink of completing a record run chase and a 3-1 series win.
However, England handed the visitors a lifeline when the target was just 73 runs away. Brook played a wild stroke and skied a catch to depart for 111.
That gave India an opening. Jacob Bethell also fell to a rash shot for five and Root, having completed a masterful 39th Test century, nicked to wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel off Krishna.
There was more than hour left in play on Sunday when bad light and then rain forced an early stumps.
England will rue the six dropped catches in India's second innings that allowed the tourists to set a record target of 374 at the London venue.
It was India's narrowest winning margin in a Test match. “For us as a team that wasn't given a chance in this series, for us to fight back and fight in every game and get a result which is 2-2 [is great],” India opener KL Rahul told Sky Sports.
“It might seem like a draw but for Indian Test cricket going into the future it will rank right at the top. From this, we will go on and win many more series outside of India.”
India were playing without Jasprit Bumrah at The Oval as the leading pacer struggled with his fitness in the fourth Test. In his absence, the tourists' pacers stepped up when it mattered.
Siraj, who has a far better record when Bumrah is not playing, ended the series with 23 wickets at 32.43.
Gill lauded his team for not giving up. England were coasting to victory at 301-3 with Brook and Root in total control. But a rash shot from Brook off Akash Deep opened the floodgates.
“I wish I didn’t play that shot, but at the time I was very confident,” said Brook. “If I got a quick 30 over the next two overs, then the game is done. That was my thought process … In the back of my mind it was to get as many runs as quickly as possible.”
England captain Ben Stokes, who missed the fifth Test due to a shoulder injury, said he was proud of the fight shown by England, who played the Test with 10 men as Woakes injured his shoulder on the first day itself.
“The whole series has been awesome. There's always going to be moments where emotions are coming out,” Stokes said.
“When one of your bowlers goes down so early in the game, the role of the other seamers changes. Even in the second innings, the heart and desire they showed was amazing.”
