Cricket | India win classic test match to draw series

India (224 & 396) beat England (247& 367) by six runs

England fell agonisingly short of a record-breaking run chase as India claimed a six-run victory in one of the most breathtaking climaxes to a Test match in living memory.

Author | Ajay

Stadium | Oval

With 17 runs still needed to reach a target of 374, Chris Woakes emerged from the dressing room with his arm in a sling to support last man Gus Atkinson in front of a raucous Oval crowd.

Woakes, met by a roar worthy of a century, took his place at the non-striker’s end as Atkinson tried to haul England to a famous win.

As tension reached unbearable levels, the pair scrapped for every run in the face of deafening Indian support. Atkinson cleared Mohammed Siraj for six before Woakes scampered a bye to keeper Dhruv Jurel, who missed the stumps in a frantic effort to retain strike.

India held their nerve. Prasidh Krishna’s over allowed Woakes to steal a couple of crucial runs and another single to hand Atkinson the strike once more.

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But Siraj returned to deliver the decisive blow, bowling Atkinson to seal India’s narrowest ever Test win by runs.

The result leaves a thrilling series level at 2–2, concluding a compelling 25 days of drama that will live long in the memory.

As their celebrations began, India took a moment to embrace the injured Woakes before completing a lap of honour in front of their jubilant supporters.

The perfect way to finish the series

After rain brought an early end to a memorable fourth day, there were fears the series would fizzle out, denied the dramatic finale it deserved and played in front of a half-empty ground.

That could not have been further from the truth. The Oval was sold out in advance, with supporters arriving early and hopeful. They were treated to a truly epic conclusion, one that stirred memories of the 2019 World Cup final, Ben Stokes’s heroics at Headingley later that year, or the one-run loss to New Zealand in Wellington two years ago.

It was a superb win for India, who fully merited the 2–2 result. They achieved it without Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah or Nitish Kumar Reddy, a trio whose absence might have derailed a lesser side.

Instead, this may come to be seen as the emergence of a new era under Shubman Gill, who led with authority and batted with assurance throughout a series that could define the early stages of his captaincy.