That’s all from us. Hope you had fun with our coverage. It was a thrilling series.
Kohli: Credit has to go to both those young guys for stepping up on this stage. From three wickets down, it take guts. It might not show in the scoreline but both sides played in great spirit. That was an example of two guys not giving up and entertaining the crowd. This is probably the revival of Test cricket and shows what it means to us, a great advert for Test cricket.
Definitely, I think we will sit down and think about. If we had taken those opportunities [in the lost Tests]; we missed quite few. When both teams are going for wins, you can have a result that looks like that [4-1]. There’s a reason why we voted for Sam [Curran] as Man of the Series. He attacked with the bat and with the ball, and made important contributions. It takes character for someone to come in and play like that. He put England in front in those important Test matches.
Curran: Trying to jeep it as natural as possible, a great learning curve having played only five games, but playing with Jimmy, Broady, pretty awesome, after growing up watching them the sofa, to be playing with them.
Cook: Most amazing week, one you couldn’t have scripted. Just been amazing, great to contribute to an England win, and win the series 4-1, and also a great game of cricket, to go into the last session of the last day with all four results possible, great advert for Test cricket. Been great moment, sad moments, when it’s been tough, test cricket shows how hard it is, turn up needing seven wickets but it goes right to the end. I leave with great memories.
Been a privilege to play with England’s greatest cricketer [James Anderson], no disrespect to any other guys, his skills to do it time and time again, you almost take it for granted, that’s he’s going to hit a length.
Sam Curran is the Player of the Series. India’s Player of the Series is....surprise, surprise..Virat Kohli.
What a way to end things. Alastair Cook is the Player of the Match.
“I’ll miss him. He is my best mate,” says James Anderson as he tears up paying tribute to Cook. “I wasn’t thinking about it [Going past McGrath] as the way those two [Rahul and Pant] were going, we thought it will be close.”
ENGLAND WIN SERIES 4-1
We witnessed some fantastic cricket through the day. Rahul and Pant were magnificent. As long as one of those batsmen could go on, India were in with a chance. After Rashid masterfully picked up their wickets, the pacers mopped up the tail in no time.
ENGLAND WIN BY 118 RUNS
M Shami b Anderson 0 (3), INDIA 345
Anderson, fittingly, takes the the final wicket, beating Shami through the gate. With that, the Burnley Express becomes the pacer with the most number of Test wickets, going past McGrath’s tally. Cook leads the team off the field and is greeted with a thunderous applause from the crowd.
INDIA 345/9 in 94 Overs (Shami 0, Bumrah 0)
The last two deliveries of the over were pitched outside off and Bumrah was happy to let it go. Huge cheers from the Indian supporters.
WICKET! R Jadeja c Bairstow b Curran 13 (46) INDIA 345/9 in 93.4 Overs
Bairstow makes amends this time after spooning it off Anderson. Curran shapes it away from the batsman, who gets a thick edge. Bairstow this time dives with a little more assurance and pouches it with both hands on his left.
INDIA 341/8 in 93 Overs (Jadeja 9, Shami 0)
Jadeja survives by the lick of paint. Anderson can’t believe it as the ball takes an inside edge and trickles away to the boundary. The wait to overtake Glenn McGrath continues. Just like the first innings, Jadeja does well to farm strike. 15 overs left till the end of the day’s play.
WICKET! I Sharma c Bairstow b Curran 5 (24), INDIA 336/8 in 92 Overs
Curran get the breakthrough. Can you keep him out of the game? REVEW LOST for India. Dharmasena’s finger went up but Ishant immediately put his left arm up. The ultra-edge showed a spike. That was a fine over from Curran, who was rewarded for his variations.
INDIA 335/7 in 91 Overs (Jadeja 3, Ishant 5)
Anderson is feeling it. Ishant is beaten outside the off-stump twice. It’s another tight over and India’s hopes of a win may have just faded out. Just one from it and it’s a fine start for England with the new ball.
The second new-ball is taken
INDIA 334/7 in 90 Overs (Jadeja 3, Ishant 5)
England continue to prey in around Ishant’s bat with Rashid trying to turn it into the batsman. Here, the tailender comes on top with a fine sweep to the deep mid-wicket fence. Ishant does well to block the rest of the deliveries of the over. Will those two chances that went begging cost England?
INDIA 330/7 in 89 Overs (Jadeja 3, Ishant 1)
Jadeja is walking across the stumps to combat Anderson’s in-swing. He does it on the all the deliveries, trying to work it on the leg side. It is another maiden.
INDIA 330/7 in 87 Overs (Jadeja 3, Ishant 1)
DROP! Anderson is denied the chance to become the highest wicket-taking pacer as Bairstow spoons one after Jadeja edges it. The dive from the England wicket-keeper was on point but he couldn’t grasp it with his left hand.
INDIA 330/7 in 86 Overs (Jadeja 3, Ishant 1)
Oh, England had a chance with Rashid hitting the footmarks and Ishant bobbing it up but it falls over silly point. That is a tight over too.
INDIA 328/7 in 85 Overs (Jadeja 2, Ishant 0)
That will be another maiden for Mr Anderson. Yet again, Jadeja is teased into cutting and poking outside off, with the pacer going around the wicket. The scoring rate has come down drastically after Rahul and Pant’s departure.
WICKET! R Pant c Ali b Rashid 114 (146), INDIA 328/7 in 84 Overs
England are back in the game. Pant fails to pick up Rashid’s googly and skies it to long on, where Moeen Ali takes a fine catch running sideways. Wild celebrations follow as England think they have one foot at the door. That ball could only hit the toe-end of the bat. Take a bow, Pant!
INDIA 326/6 in 83 Overs (Pant 113, Jadeja 1)
Jadeja endures a nervy start as he resists the urge the poke at the delivery pitched marginally outside off-stump, something that has got Anderson hundreds of wickets. It’s a maiden over for the 36-year-old.
WICKET! KL Rahul b Rashid 149 (224), INDIA 325/6 in 81.1 Overs
Oh, that was a leg-spinner’s dream. This is probably what was required to break this partnership, which was of the highest quality. The ball landed on the rough, spun viciously and clipped off stump. The Oval crowd is on its feet to applaud Rahul, who now has a 199 and a 149 against England. What a knock!
INDIA 325/5 in 81 Overs (Rahul 149, Pant 113)
Our in-house statsman tell us that this is the 2nd fourth innings 200-run partnership in India’s Test cricket history. Pant plays out five dot balls off Anderson, who continues to bowl with Bairstow keeping upto the stumps.
INDIA 324/5 in 80 Overs (Rahul 148, Pant 113)
Pant continues his efforts to dispatch Rashid’s deliveries into the Thames river. The 200-run partnership between Rahul and Pant comes up with a vicious googly that pitched on the rough beat keeper Bairstow and Stokes at first slip to run away to the boundary. The new ball is available for England.
INDIA 316/5 in 78 Overs (Rahul 144, Pant 113)
Leg-byes, byes, fours....the runs continue to flow. Root’s ploy to attack Pant with spin is not working. The left-hander continues to play with the turn and milk out boundaries. Ten from the over and England’s worries continue.
INDIA 306/5 in 76 Overs (Rahul 142, Pant 109)
India go past 300 and Pant continues to be his aggressive self, trying to go for the boundaries. Meanwhile, Rashid is hammered for another SIX by Pant. England continue to struggle with the carnage.
TEA TIME, INDIA NEED 166 TO WIN
What an exhibition from Rahul and Pant. Yes, the duo lit up the IPL with their big-hitting but this was not mindless slogging by any means. Rahul’s defensive technique against Anderson drew rich praise from Gavaskar. Pant’s pyrotechnics also saw him combine his madness with a determination to fend at deliveries pitched full and outside off-stump. India can dream of entering the record books. It is, as they say, “squeaky bum time” for England.
INDIA 298/5 in 74 Overs (Rahul 141, Pant 101)
Bairstow comes up to the stumps again, this time against Anderson. Rahul is happy to let balls go outside off-stump and it’s a maiden to finish the second session.
INDIA 298/5 in 74 Overs (Rahul 141, Pant 101)
HUNDRED FOR PANT! Another six from the India wicketkeeper off Rashid, hitting it with the turn to dispatch it into the second tier. The crowd is on its feet. What a swashbuckling essay this has been. Pressure firmly on England now.
INDIA 282/5 in 71 Overs (Rahul 141, Pant 94)
Another Anderson over, another maiden. Indians continue to show respect to the senior pacer and Rahul, once again shows solid defensive technique.
The records are tumbling: slowly but surely
INDIA 282/5 in 71 Overs (Rahul 141, Pant 94)
SIX! Another big one from Pant, moving across and swinging it over long-on, baseball style. He moves into the nineties, and the carnage continues to leave England befuddled. Sensational hitting this.
Rashid is back into the attack
INDIA 282/5 in 71 Overs (Rahul 140, Pant 87)
Maiden from Anderson to put the brakes on the scoring (Yes, can’t believe we just typed that out). Rahul is firm in defence and Gavaskar in commentary praises the India opener for making that adjustment in this innings; very little gap between bat and pad.
157* – This is now the highest 6th wicket partnership for India in the fourth innings. Previous best? 136 between Sachin Tendulkar and Nayan Mongia against Pakistan in Chennai. (That one still hurts, doesn’t it?)
INDIA 282/5 in 70 Overs (Rahul 140, Pant 87)
Pant dabs the ball to the third man region to take his score into the eighties. Bairstow, here, is standing up to the stumps. The last ball of the over sees Pant cut it through the gully region. There are cries of “catch it” but it falls safely and the ball trickles away the fence yet again. England can’t believe this. We can’t either. Indians are flying.
INDIA 274/5 in 69 Overs (Rahul 140, Pant 79)
A four leg-byes off Anderson brings up the 150 partnership between Rahul and Pant. After what seems like an age, the pace spearhead draws a false shot, bring Rahul forward and beating his outside edge.
INDIA 270/5 in 68 Overs (Rahul 140, Pant 79)
Broad is still clutching his ribs on the right and is in a fair amount of discomfort. Meanwhile, his first two deliveries yielded catching opportunities. One from Rahul’s miscued loft over cover and the other, a clip on the leg-side from Pant that went narrowly over Jennings jump and into the boundary.
Stuart Broad, who is suffering from a broken rib, is back into the attack.
INDIA 265/5 in 67 Overs (Rahul 139, Pant 75)
Three boundaries of the over. You just cannot bowl short to Pant. Yet again, the 20-year-old looks adept at taking on Stokes. He smashes one through the covers and follows that with a helluva pull shot that beats the dive of deep mid-wicket. In the fifth ball of the over, the southpaw steers the ball to the vacant third man region. The boundaries keep on coming and the Indian fans can more than just hope for their team surviving till the close of play.
INDIA 249/5 in 65 Overs (Rahul 138, Pant 60)
For the benefit of those not watching the match, this partnership has not been all about slogging. Rahul, here, once again shows an astute grasp of situational awareness, defending balls pitched on the dangerous off stump corridor. Pant has done the same. Maiden over from Stokes.
INDIA 249/5 in 64 Overs (Rahul 138, Pant 60)
Add one boundary to Rahul’s tally. Yet again, the opener steps out and clubs the ball along the ground through the covers. Root saw him stepping out but there was little pace on the ball to bring the stumping into play. The scoreboard keeps on ticking. Game on.
Root continues....
INDIA 243/5 in 63 Overs (Rahul 133, Pant 59)
Stokes, this time, has an attacking field to bowl to. There were two slips and a gully and the deliveries were angled on off stump. Neat over from the England all-rounder as Rahul went against chasing the ball.
INDIA 242/5 in 62 Overs (Rahul 132, Pant 59)
Drinks called as the English players retreat following a leather hunt. Pant got a top edge while going for a massive heave on the leg side. The ball, though, landed beyond Rashid at short third-man. Pant followed that up with a booming drive through cover. Another expensive over for England, six coming of it.
INDIA 236/5 in 61 Overs (Rahul 132, Pant 53)
Pant gets to his first fifty in Test cricket with a single of Stokes down to the third man region. The singles and twos continue to come at a brisk pace. Four from the over and India continue to keep the run-rate in check.
INDIA 231/5 in 60 Overs (Rahul 131, Pant 49)
Root is getting some turn. He deceived Pant with a googly that even beat Bairstow. Pant gets another couple with a dab down to the fine-leg fielder. He edges closer to his fifty.
INDIA 228/5 in 58 Overs (Rahul 130, Pant 47)
Rahul continues to use his feet to the spinners. The field continues to be spread out. Bairstow now concedes byes as the ball trickles away to the boundary ropes. Frustrating period for England.
Joe Root brings himself on and he starts off with a maiden
INDIA 221/5 in 55 Overs (Rahul 128, Pant 46)
The 100-run partnership comes up between Rahul and Pant. If it continues at this rate, India will have a genuine chance of going for a win. It has taken just 108 balls for the duo to get to their century stand. Stokes, on this occasion, was too full and it played to Pant’s strengths of flicking and driving.
INDIA 213/5 in 54 Overs (Rahul 128, Pant 38)
Rahul and Pant continue their onslaught and the runs keep on flowing. Root’s defensive field is helping the batsman tick the strike over and there is the odd boundary too. The partnership is edging towards the 100-run mark. Maybe it is time to bring on Anderson and Broad.
INDIA 191/5 in 49 Overs (Rahul 118, Pant 26)
More IPL style cricket from Pant and Rahul. The left-hander creams Rashid for runs on both sides of the wicket, getting a scorching one-bounce four and two singles on the leg side.
INDIA 177/5 in 47 Overs (Rahul 113, Pant 17)
Rahul picks it up from where he left in the first session, piercing gaps with precision. Pant is also his free-flowing self. Rashid was slightly short and Pant cut away in style towards the third-man fence for a boundary.
The players are the back. The second session begins.
LUNCH
INDIA 167/5 in 45 Overs
India scored 109 runs at more than four runs an over and it was thanks some thrill-a-minute batting from Rahul, who went hell for leather. Rahane, after showing plenty of steel to get to 37, threw his wicket away. India’s hopes of survival will depend on what this partnership can do. There is Jadeja to follow too. England’s bowlers have had a relatively quiet session and have taken their foot off the gas by just a touch. India need another 297 to win.
Rashid is handed the ball
First 5 instances of crossing 50, four centuries. Since then, it’s taken 11 50-plus scores before he could convert it into a century.
INDIA 166/5 in 44 Overs (Rahul 107, Pant 12)
SIX! What a hit from Pant. He steps out and hammers Ali, one-handed, and the ball lands up in the top tier. That was a monstrous strike and Pant made it look so easy.
INDIA 159/5 in 43 Overs (Rahul 106, Pant 6)
Rahul’s boundary spree continues. Stokes’s short-ball tactic is simply not working. Despite having three men back, square on the leg side, Rahul swats the ball between the fielders to get another boundary to the total.
INDIA 152/5 in 41 Overs (Rahul 101, Pant 4)
HUNDRED FOR RAHUL! Outstanding slogging from Rahul, who edges close to his century. Stokes continued to bang it short, and it kept disappearing to the fence. A SIX over extra-cover was followed by boundaries to third man and mid-off, with the latter bringing up his century.
INDIA 138/5 in 40 Overs (Rahul 87, Pant 4)
The runs continue to flow from Rahul’s blade. He storms into the eighties with a reverse sweep off Moeen, and follows that with a thumping slog sweep to deep-square.
INDIA 129/5 in 39 Overs (Rahul 78, Pant 4)
Pant is his busy self and Rahul, despite the fall of two quick wickets, is going about with his task calmly. He continues to go for runs. A ripper from Ali off the rough bamboozled Pant outside off. Indians have a tricky phase to negotiate.
WICKET! H Vihari c Bairstow b Stokes 0 (6), INDIA 121/5 in 36.4 Overs
Vihari’s second innings stay dohttps://twitter.com/UPStatsman/status/1039476973972713473esn’t last long. Stokes tests him with a bouncer outside off and the debutant can’t help but nick it to Bairstow. Peach of a delivery from the England all-rounder.
Stokes is into the attack
WICKET! A Rahane c Jennings b Ali, INDIA 120/4 in 35.4 Overs
That was a tame dismissal. Especially when things were going so well for India. Rahane tries a sweep off Ali, gets the toe end of the bat. It’s a simple catch to Jennings at mid-wicket. Oh, boy. Rahane will not be pleased with that.
INDIA 111/3 in 34 Overs (Rahul 72, Rahane 29)
More runs for Rahul, who is finding the gaps with ease. He drives on the up and paddles the ball to fine leg, both of which earned him boundaries. The opener then punches through the covers to get a couple.
INDIA 101/3 in 33 Overs (Rahul 62, Rahane 29)
Curran once again loses his length. India cross hundred with Rahane dispatching a full-toss wide outside off to the point boundary. The India vice captain continues to walk down the wicket to counter the left-armer’s in-swinger. So far, the ball has not nipped back in sharply.
INDIA 97/3 in 32 Overs (Rahul 62, Rahane 25)
REVIEW LOST The ball pitched low after pitching slightly outside off and Rahul was beaten, and rapped on the pads. Root takes the review and the replay showed the ball clearly pitching outside off. It was a soft review and England have none left. Rahul survives; he looked tentative throughout the over.
INDIA 97/3 in 31 Overs (Rahul 62, Rahane 25)
Rahane walks down the wicket to Curran and hammers it past mid-off for a boundary. Signs of a man coming back to form there.
INDIA 93/3 in 30 Overs (Rahul 62, Rahane 21)
Once again, Moeen was slightly short in length. The batsmen take a three singles to keep the scoreboard ticking. The partnership has now crosses the 90-run mark.
Root now opts for Moeen Ali’s spin
INDIA 90/3 in 29 Overs (Rahul 61, Rahane 19)
Rahul fends outside off against Curran and nearly guides it to first slip. Yet again, the opener was deceived by the one that pitched on a good length and angled into him. Maiden over.
Barmy Army, England’s fan group, have come up with a new song for all-rounder Sam Curran:
INDIA 90/3 in 28 Overs (Rahul 61, Rahane 19)
Rahane continues to drive well on the up and has successfully smothered the seam movement of Broad so far. The India vice-captain earned a couple of twos in the over.
INDIA 85/3 in 27 Overs (Rahul 60, Rahane 15)
Curran beats Rahane’s outside edge twice in a row, with the ball angling away beautifully outside off-stump. Just a single from the over and it’s an encouraging start for the left-armer.
Curran comes into the attack. Root is trying to make use of the breeze, which is blowing from right to left.
INDIA 84/3 in 26 Overs (Rahul 59, Rahane 15)
Broad and Anderson continue to drop it a little short and the batsmen rotate strike with minimum fuss. Rahane was beaten outside off-stump by both pacers. Rahul also survived a jaffa from Broad – a cross seam delivery that dipped back sharply. The floodlights are beaming in all it glory. This has been a solid start for the Indians.
INDIA 77/3 in 23 Overs (Rahul 54, Rahane 13)
Rahul and Rahane were beaten by deliveries that seamed away from them. Anderson, this time, gets his length spot on. The conditions are still overcast and the the lights are on at The Oval.
INDIA 76/3 in 22 Overs (Rahul 53, Rahane 13)
There is a big appeal for a leg-before but the ball was definitely going down leg and the ball trickles into the ropes, leg byes. Broad nearly did Rahul in with the scrambled seam nipping back in, something that has troubled the batsman throughout the series. Rahane has looked positive so far. Another four leg-byes down the leg side to finish the over.
INDIA 65/3 in 21 Overs (Rahul 52, Rahane 11)
Rahul now has a deep point in place. Rahane’s defiance continues: he plays out a maiden but gets off strike with a quick single off Anderson. Solid start for the too openers. Anderson have Broad have been a trifle short so far, allowing the batsmen to rotate strike.
INDIA 62/3 in 19 Overs (Rahul 50, Rahane 10)
KL Rahul notches up his first fifty of the series with a delightful boundary off Anderson. India too get going as they look to play out the day. There’s still a lot to be done, though.
With Cook gone, there is no international player with 10,000 runs. Amla, with 9022, is the next followed by David Warner (if you call him active), followed by Joe Root.
3:17 pm: Getting Kohli’s wicket late in the day was “pretty awesome”, says England’s Sam Curran. The all-rounder attributed his success with the bat in this series to playing his natural game.
3:12 pm: “It’s all about survival,” says Sanjay Manjerakar at the pitch report. There are a few clouds hovering over The Oval but there is no forecast of rain.
3:07 pm: Sunil Gavaskar thinks that there is a “change in attitude” in the Indian batsmen since 2008, pointing out that the tours post IPL have been poor.
3:00 pm: Alastair Cook called the last four days “surreal”. The former England batsman, who scored his 33rd Test century on Monday, also became the fifth-highest run-getter in red-ball cricket.
2:45 pm: Mohammed Shami attributes his success in this series to watching James Anderson and Stuart Broad – READ
Hello and welcome to the final day of the fifth Test between England and India. India look to avoid a draw. Alastair Cook marked his final England innings with a “dream come true” hundred before James Anderson became the joint most successful fast bowler in Test history by sparking an India collapse at the Oval, late on day four.
Cook made 147 and Joe Root, his successor as England captain, 125 as the hosts piled up 423/8.Anderson then had both Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara plumb lbw as India, needing 464 for an unlikely win, slumped to one for two in reply. That double strike meant Anderson had equalled Australia great Glenn McGrath’s mark for the most Test wickets taken by any fast bowler of 563.
Skipper Virat Kohli’s wicket, though, was a body blow for India. KL Rahul did his reputation no harm and was at an unbeaten 46 at the close of play. The visitors need another 406 runs to win.