London, Aug 1 Gus Atkinson was at his fiery best at his home ground to pick his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests as England bowled India out for 224 in 69.4 overs on day two of the fifth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at The Oval on Friday.
Resuming from 204/6, India’s innings ended within 30 minutes and 34 deliveries of the morning session’s start. Atkinson took three of the final four wickets to finish with 5-33 from 21.4 overs, including eight maidens. Josh Tongue took one scalp in the session to end up with 3-57, as India lost their last four wickets for just 20 runs.
The session began with Karun Nair and Washington Sundar taking a boundary each off Tongue. But Tongue bounced back to deliver the first breakthrough for England when he got a ball to jag back in and beat Nair’s inside edge to trap the batter plumb lbw for 57, with the right-handed batter also burning a review.
In the next over, Washington was dismissed for 26 after he pulled a short delivery from Atkinson to deep square leg. Atkinson got his fourth wicket when his fuller delivery crashed into Mohammed Siraj's off stump to castle him through the gate.
Two balls later, Atkinson completed a richly-deserving five-for by forcing Prasidh Krishna to nick an out-swinger behind to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith. Atkinson’s haul of 5-33 was all the more significant after Chris Woakes’s left shoulder injury sustained while fielding on day one’s play meant he won’t be taking any further part in the match.
Despite India’s score of 224 being the lowest first innings total of this season, Atkinson’s performance would encourage the visitors’ bowling lineup, as he showed there were cracks in the pitch to exploit for them against England’s batters.
Brief scores: India 224 in 69.4 overs (Karun Nair 57, B Sai Sudharsan 38; Gus Atkinson 5-33, Josh Tongue 3-57) against England.
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