With the series tied 1-1, The Oval witnessed an intriguing opening day of the fourth Test match. As many as 13 wickets went down down on Day 1 on a pitch that assisted seam but not significantly. The two teams are evenly poised at this point.
After winning the toss, England dominated the first two sessions in helpful bowling conditions. However, after being pushed back to 127/7, India bounced back after tea. Shardul Thakur led the fightback with the fastest Test fifty on English soil to take India to 191. It was then followed by a breathtaking spell from by Jasprit Bumrah, who removed both the English openers in his second over.
Nevertheless, the most important breakthrough came towards the fag end of the day when Umesh Yadav castled the in-form Joe Root with a with a peach of a delivery that came back after pitching to breach the defence of England’s most valuable asset in the batting department.
England are still 138 behind India. With no Root to anchor the innings, this is ideal opportunity for Bumrah & co. to expose the vulnerable English middle order. The ball, just 17 overs old, is expected to do a bit off the surface in the morning session.
The English batters have to hanging in and play out the first session with minimum damage. The Oval is a quick-scoring ground and they have quite a few strokeplayers. England bat deep as well. The onus of scoring will largely be on Dawid Malan, who has looked good so far, and Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow.
Hence, one decent partnership can take them past India. Any lead close to 100 can very well seal their fate in this Test match.
Betway fantasy tips
– Back England to go past India’s first innings score before tea. The pitch will flatten on Day 2 and the batters will get value for their shots.
– Apart from Root, Bairstow is the other English batter who has got runs in the middle order in this series. Back him to get going on this batting-friendly surface.
– Bumrah is India’s most trusted bowler. He has looked in good rhythm, and has bowled with fierce pace. He is likely to fetch some bowling points.