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Tea Ladies and gentlemen, we have a ball game. A spirited second session of day two from India – namely Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna – has lit a fire under this fifth Test at The Oval, leaving England 215 for 7 at tea, trailing by nine. Harry Brook, fiery on 33 not out, remains England’s best hope of a worthwhile lead with England two wickets away from the end of their reply due to Chris Woakes’ shoulder injury.Three wickets each for Siraj and Prasidh more or less overturned the dominance asserted by openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett. They had propelled England to 109 for 1 at lunch, after Gus Atkinson’s fourth five-wicket haul had capped India’s first innings at 224.Any thoughts of that being under par have been struck from the mind, primarily down to an eight-over spell from Siraj that read 3 for 35, with stand-in skipper Ollie Pope, the prized wicket of Joe Root and Jacob Bethell seen off in the space of 12 overs of play.All three were found wanting by Siraj’s late movement off the surface, with the slightest lack of bounce, from The Micky Stewart Members’ Pavilion End. Pope’s required a review – despite striking the back pad plumb in front – before Root used one in vain to be dismissed for 29. Bethell simply walked.Prasidh could perhaps take an assist for Root’s wicket, having riled up the No. 2 on the all-time Test runs chart. Having thrown a ball at Crawley upon fielding in his follow-through – the pair exchanged an immediate apology and acceptance, respectively – Prasidh was in the book when Crawley failed to clear Ravindra Jadeja at midwicket for 64. He had earlier brought up his third half century of the series, and second in a row, from 42 deliveries.Root arrived and the pair became embroiled in a back and forth which left England’s No. 4 fuming. Prasidh then relieved Siraj and took India through to the break with two wickets in five deliveries; as Jamie Smith nicked high to KL Rahul at second slip and Jamie Overton was trapped LBW for what proved to be the final ball of the session.Prasidh Krishna struck twice in the last over before tea•Getty Images

It was a complete sea change from the morning, which featured Atkinson’s 5 for 33 upon his return to the side after two months out. He made light work of what remained of India’s first innings when they arrived on Friday morning on 204 for 6.It was all the more important after news this morning that Woakes would play no further part in the match after a suspected dislocated shoulder sustained in the field last night. And the Surrey quick, on his home ground, took three of the remaining four wickets that India had up their sleeve.Josh Tongue made the first key incision, albeit with a chaotic approach that would get any surgeon struck off. His first over, opening from the Vauxhall End, went for nine, but he was able to remove Karun Nair for 57 in his second. A sharp delivery that nipped into the stumps – Nair no doubt expected something short and wide either side of them – pinned the right-hander on the back leg. Plumb in front, Nair took one of India’s three reviews with him.Washington Sundar should have assumed the responsibility at that point as an elongated tail became exposed, but he fell five deliveries later, waltzing into a short ball trap, heaving Atkinson to deep square leg, where Jamie Overton sprinted in to take a smart catch.Atkinson would then skittle Siraj before Prasidh felt for a delivery outside off, completing a collapse of four for six in 18 balls. It also leaves Atkinson with an average of 21, the fourth best for an England seamer with fifty or more dismissals, and the second best strike rate, ever, at 34.9, for those who have taken 60 wickets.England’s openers were boundary happy, smoking 92 off just 77 deliveries, punishing India for every slight error in line or length. Duckett was the main driver, reverse-pulling Akash Deep over the cordon, then “conventionally” ramping Siraj into the sponge for the first two sixes of the match.Duckett fell to Akash Deep attempting a third, departing for 43 with the bowler putting his arm around the left-hander, as much in jest as respect.

The pitch for the second and final India-West Indies Test, which starts on October 10 in Delhi, will have patches of grass interspersed with bald areas, unlike the Ahmedabad pitch for the first Test that had an even grass covering.The Delhi pitch will have a black-soil base and is likely to favour batters, with spin playing a role as the surface dries up gradually.West Indies lost the first Test inside three days after electing to bat on one of the greenest pitches in India since the World Test Championship was launched in 2019. With four millimetres of live grass covering spread over a red-soil pitch coupled with good bounce, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj gleefully went about their job on the first morning as West Indies were all out in 44.1 overs. The visitors lasted just 45.1 overs in their second innings, suffering a bruising defeat by an innings and 140 runs.The pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, though, is understood to be more batting-friendly, coupled with a quick outfield and slightly shorter boundaries. The last Test played here was the second of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2023. In that game, Australia, having elected to bat on a slow turner, lost by six wickets, inside three days.

After a washout in their opening game, St Lucia Kings beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by three runs in a last-ball thriller in Basseterre to register their first win of CPL 2025. This was Patriots’ third loss in four games.After being sent in, Kings rode on the half-centuries of Johnson Charles and Roston Chase and a 23-ball 46 from Tim David to post 200 for 8. Patriots started well in their chase but had lost three wickets by the end of the powerplay. It became 66 for 4 after nine overs. At that point, ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster gave Patriots a 5.32% chance of winning.Jason Holder kept them in the game singlehandedly, striking a 29-ball 63. After he fell, Navin Bidaisee took over and brought it down to four needed off the final delivery. David Wiese bowled a slot ball; Bidaisee swung towards long-off but could not clear David. Apart from scoring a 38-ball 61, Chase also picked up 2 for 27 from four overs and was named the Player of the Match.Earlier, Kings were 21 for 2 after three overs before Charles and Chase injected momentum into the innings by adding 50 off 26 balls for the third wicket. After Charles fell, Chase and David carried on. Chase hit Dominic Drakes for three fours in an over and, later, David smashed Holder for three sixes in his one over.Jason Holder’s valiant knock could not bring a win for Patriots•CPL T20/Getty Images

They added 80 off 50 but after they both departed, the incoming batters could not keep the momentum going and managed just 21 from the last three overs.Andre Fletcher and Kyle Mayers gave Patriots a start of 43 in 4.2 overs. But once Wiese broke that stand with Mayers’ wicket, Patriots’ chase got derailed. Khary Pierre, who had opened the bowling, removed Fletcher and Mikyle Louis in the next over to make it 49 for 3 after the powerplay. Chase dropped a tough return catch of Rilee Rossouw. It did not prove costly as Chase dismissed him in his next over. Holder came and hit Tabraiz Shamsi for 4, 6, 6 off successive balls in the tenth over to take the side to 84 for 4 at the halfway stage.Holder kept hitting and brought up his fifty with his fifth six, off Wiese and off just 23 balls. He added 77 off 40 balls for the fifth wicket with Bidaisee, in which the latter’s contribution was 9 off 11.Once Holder fell, Bidaisee opened up and dispatched Shamsi for 4, 4, 6. He hit a six in each of the next four overs and got to his fifty in 35 balls. But he could not take Patriots over the line.