The fifth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 was set for a thrilling finale when bad light and rain played spoilsport at Kennington Oval, London. Even Chris Woakes was all set to walk out despite dislocated shoulder had England lost more wickets. England needed 35 runs whereas India needed four wickets to emerge victorious in the fifth Test but the match officials called off the day’s play which was criticised by former cricketers Stuart Broad, Nasser Hussain and Dinesh Karthik. While the early call-off gave Indian pacers time to recuperate and return fresh on Day 5, it may work in England’s favour as well. The wicket may lose the spice it offered later in the day if the heavy roller does the trick. Joe Root, who scored a century on Day 4, reckons it is a double-edged sword.
"There's pros and cons to both really," Root said in the post-day press conference. "Guys have bowled a lot, there's overs in their legs. You get back out there and you get a couple of boundaries away and all of a sudden the game looks very different again. But then again you come back tomorrow, you get another (use of heavy) roller, (players) can rest up and it's a completely new opportunity. You just sit and wait and do what you're told. So from our point of view, you come back tomorrow and got an amazing spectacle to look forward to.
"In terms of the roller, we'll see. I haven't got a crystal ball unfortunately, but it has made an impact so far throughout this game. Whether that changes on day five, we'll see, but hopefully it works well in our favour in flattening things out."
How England's lower order has performed so far?
England had Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton in the middle when the day’s play was cut short. Smith has scored 434 runs from nine innings at an average of 72.33, including one century and two fifties. He had faced 17 balls and scored two runs on Day 4. On the other end, Overton is yet to get off the mark after facing eight balls. The pace-bowling all-rounder is on a pair as he was dismissed lbw for a four-ball duck by Prasidh Krishna in the first innings.
While Josh Tongue averages less than seven and Woakes is injured, Gus Atkinson is handy with the bat. In the previous innings, he scored 11 runs from 16 balls. At this juncture of the game, small contributions like these will be helpful for the hosts.