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Dropped after Jofra Archer returned to playing XI, Josh Tongue led England's depleted bowling attack in injured Chris Woakes' absence as he took a five-wicket haul. Despite his fifer, Yashasvi Jaiswal’s century and fifties from nightwatchman Akash Deep, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar helped India set at target of 374 at Kennington Oval, London. While it is an uphill task on a spicy wicket that has surprised batters with extra bounce, Tongue sees no reason why England can’t chase down the target to script history, just like they did at Headingley, Leeds.
“It is a replay from Headingley,” said Tongue in the post-day press conference. “It will be a great day of cricket and a great day for us if we get the runs. How we play as a batting unit is very positive and very exciting. The batting we’ve got, I can’t see why we can’t give it a good go. We’re pretty chilled. Not much overthinking about it. I don’t see why we can’t chase down these runs.”
Tongue takes charge
Tongue got the crucial wickets of openers KL Rahul and Jaiswal. With the second new ball, he ended Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj's stay at the crease. He was smashed around the park by Sundar but eventually took his wicket to complete his second fifer in Test cricket. He bowled 30 overs, most for an England bowler in the innings. He conceded 125 runs and bowled four maidens.
“It was a big workload, definitely,” he said. “But I thought the lads stuck at it really well, especially given the way the pitch flattened out.”
Tongue’s wayward first over
In the first innings of the Test, Tongue took three wickets but got off to a poor start, bowling big wides. He talked about settling into his rhythm.
“That first over was tough, but getting that first wicket helped me settle. The rhythm kicked in and I just felt I was in a good place,” the young pacer said.
Tongue frustrated by Deep’s counter-attack
Tongue also admitted that he was frustrated by Deep's stay at the crease. The nightwatchman scored 66 runs from 94 balls, including 12 fours in the 107-run partnership for the third wicket with Jaiswal.
“It’s happened to me before. You just try to bowl your best ball for as long as you can. But credit to him, he got a few away,” the Worcestershire bowler said.
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