Match in balance after bowlers stage India's fightback

The see-saw battle in the England-India series continued as India ended Day 2 of The Oval Test with 52 runs ahead, after bowling out England for 247 in the first innings.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (51*) and nightwatchman Akash Deep saw off England's attack after the hosts were succesful in grabbing two Indian wickets of KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan before stumps even as they dropped Jaiswal when he was on 41.

As many as 16 wickets fell on the second day of the decider as pacers dominated the proceedings leaving the Test perfectly poised for an exciting finish.

With England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley threatening to take the game away after India folded up early at the start, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna staged India's comeback into the game, restricting England's lead to just 23 runs.

Both Siraj and Krishna bowled better lines post lunch with Siraj breaking England’s back as he picked four key wickets including that of the stand-in captain Ollie Pope (22), Joe Root (29), and Jacob Bethell during a fiery eight-over spell.

Siraj’s terrific comeback after a forgettable morning session, made him the highest wicket taker in the series after claiming Harry Brook (53) as his 18th scalp in the tournament.

Siraj was ably supported by Krishna who started the proceedings after lunch by removing the sublime-looking Crawley (64), following up with the wickets of Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton and Gus Atkinson.

Brook tried to hold one end with the tail and brought up his half-century in process before Siraj got better off him.

England began Day 2 at The Oval with a player short and with extra responsibility falling on their pacers after Chris Woakes was ruled out of the final Test due to a shoulder injury.

As India resumed at 204/6, the England bowlers led by Gus Atkinson made light work of the Indian tail after Josh Tongue trapped Karun Nair (57) plumb in front.

The visitors lost their final four wickets for just six runs and collapsed within the first half an hour of day’s play with Atkinson claiming his fourth five-wicket haul after he snapped the last three wickets.

England continued to boss the first session as openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley got off to a flier, with a scoring rate of over seven runs per over notching up their 100 within 15 overs, losing Duckett (43) in the process.

However the second session belonged to India as the pacers with four wickets each made sure India fought their way back into the game.