Jaiswal shines, Jadeja-Sundar hit fifties as India set 374 target vs ENG

London: Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar hit 53 each as India were bowled out for 396 in 88 overs and set England a target of 374 to win the fifth Test at The Oval and clinch the first edition of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

Chasing a huge target, England openers started positively. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley managed 44 runs in 12 overs.

The day began with Akash Deep hitting an entertaining 66, his first Test fifty and was followed by Yashasvi Jaiswal making 118, his sixth Test century. Jadeja and Sundar, who timed his acceleration well, then smashed half-centuries each to set an imposing target for England.

For England, Josh Tongue took 5-125, while Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton took 3-127 and 2-98 respectively. With 26 overs left in the day, England will now embark on their second-highest run-chase in Tests, which is sandwiched between their second-highest and highest successful chases in the longest format of the game.

The final session began with India’s lead going past 330, before Overton trapped Dhruv Jurel lbw for 34. Jadeja then got his fifth fifty of the series by punching Tongue through backward point for four, before edging to second slip off the pacer. Three balls later, a fired-up Tongue trapped Mohammed Siraj lbw.

Sundar then began his acceleration by hoicking Atkinson over midwicket for six, before swivelling Tongue over fine leg and mid-wicket for a brace of maximums. The all-rounder cut and pulled Atkinson for back-to-back boundaries, before bringing up his fifth Test fifty from 39 balls by smacking the pacer over mid-wicket for six.

But in a bid to take another six off Tongue, Sundar skied a catch into the leg side, where Zak Crawley held on to it, despite colliding with Ollie Pope. It gave Tongue his five-wicket haul, as England are now on the pursuit of achieving their second-highest chase in Tests.

Earlier, Jaiswal hit a gritty 118 as India extended their lead over England by 281 runs after reaching 304/6 in 71 overs at tea.

It was a session where honours were shared between both teams - India making 115 runs, with Jaiswal reaching his sixth Test century – incidentally the left-handed opener began his tour of England with a ton at Headingley. His knock of 118 came off 164 balls, laced with 14 fours and two sixes, held immense value as it came in front of his parents and elder brother present in the stadium’s stands.

The afternoon session began with a bang for England as Gus Atkinson bowled a sharp nip-backer that smacked Shubman Gill on the knee roll and trapped him plumb lbw. Gill went for the review, but there was no inside edge, as he fell for 11.

Jaiswal brought up his fourth century against England, and his second ton of this series with a hurried single through backward point. But from the other end, Karun Nair had a jittery time at the crease and couldn’t capitalise on a lifeline – a dropped catch in slips – as he was soon undone by that extra bit of bounce and nicked behind to Jamie Smith off Atkinson’s bowling.

Jaiswal and Jadeja continued to collect boundaries in a jiffy before the latter’s knock came to an end on 118 when his ramp shot was caught by backward point off Overton’s bowling. England thought they had Jadeja lbw when Tongue hit him on the boot, but he overturned it successfully on review and with Jurel hitting three well-timed boundaries, Jadeja will be the key man for India to take the lead past 350 and set England a stiff target.

Brief Scores: India 224 and 396 in 88 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 118, Akash Deep 66; Josh Tongue 5-125, Gus Atkinson 3-127) lead England 247 in 51.2 overs (Zak Crawley 64; Prasidh Krishna 4-62) by 373 runs. IANS

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