XtraTime Web Desk: A late fightback by Indian bowlers in the final session has put the visitors on top on day 1 of the fifth test as England reached 198 runs for 7 at the Oval today. In the final session the hosts lost 6 wickets in quick time after the departure of Alastair Cook (71); who is playing his last international match here.
Earlier England cricket team captain Joe Root again won the toss and choose to bat first. India made two changes in the final test as Ravindra Jadeja replaced injured Ravichandran Ashwin and middle-order batsman Hanuma Vihari made his debut in place of star all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Both the English openers Alastair Cook & Keaton Jennings started the innings steadily together. They shared a partnership of 60 runs before Jennings got out on 23. After his departure, another opener Alastair Cook who is playing his final test match showed why he is still one of the best openers of all time as he shared a partnership of 73 runs with Moeen Ali. They both played cautiously as England didn’t lose any wicket in the second session.
The game changed in the final session when Jasprit Bumrah clean bowled Cook on 71 runs. After that England lose path and their wicket fell very quickly with skipper Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow both returned to the pavilion on a duck. Be Stokes (11) and Sam Curran (0) too didn’t last long as well. Last recognize batsman Jos Buttler (11) and Adil Rashid (4) were at the crease at the end of day’s play. Moeen Ali too got out after scoring a useful half-century. All the Indian bowlers were economical for the Men in Blue but among them Ishant Sharma was the best with three wickets under his belt. Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja too shared two wickets each.