LONDON: England took two early wickets in the fifth and deciding Test against India at the Oval on Thursday, with the tourists 72-2 when a downpour led to an early lunch on the opening day.
Sai Sudharsan (25 not out) and prolific captain Shubman Gill (15 not out) then held firm in a match India must win to end a gripping series all square at 2-2.
Ollie Pope, leading England in place of injured captain Ben Stokes, won the toss on his Surrey home ground and unsurprisingly elected to field first in overcast conditions and on a green-tinged pitch.
It was not long before recalled Surrey paceman Gus Atkinson, one of four changes to the England team following last week’s drawn third Test at Old Trafford, had opener Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw for two.
England, however, had to overturn umpire Ahsan Raza’s original not out decision — the first time Pope had succeeded with a review as caretaker captain.
When rain forced the players off the field a few minutes before the scheduled lunch break, Atkinson had miserly figures of 1-7 in six overs.
With the floodlights piercing the gathering gloom in south London, runs proved hard to come by as Chris Woakes also kept things tight while taking the new ball.
And it was Woakes who struck next when opener KL Rahul, who has scored more than 500 runs the series, played on for 14 trying to cut a ball that was too close to him, leaving India 38-2.
His exit brought in Gill, enjoying a prolific debut campaign as India skipper.
The 25-year-old now needs just 38 more runs to overhaul Sunil Gavaskar’s all-time India series
record of 774 runs set against the West Indies in 1971.
Gill, fresh from his fourth hundred of the series in Manchester, was quickly into his stride with an elegant back-foot punch through the covers for four off recalled seamer Jamie Overton.
A schedule of five Tests in less than seven weeks has taken its toll, with both England and India making four changes to their teams at the Oval.
India left out paceman Jasprit Bumrah, who hurt his back earlier this year.
