Akash Deep celebrates his half century with teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal during the third day of the fifth Test match between India and England, at The Oval cricket ground, in London, on August 2, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Yashasvi Jaiswal broke the shackles when it mattered the most. After a memorable start to the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, with a century in the first Test and an 87 in the second, the young Indian opener struggled in his next six innings, notching up only 101 runs.
But, at The Oval on Saturday (August 2, 2025), Jaiswal proved why he is rated so highly. Making the most of three dropped catches, the southpaw raced to his sixth Test hundred (118, 164b, 14×4, 2×6) as India set England a target of 374 after posting 396 in its second innings.
It was Jaiswal and nightwatcher Akash Deep who set the tone before Jadeja scored another fifty and Washington Sundar spiced up the third day of the fifth Test with a 46-ball-53. Washington added 39 runs for the last wicket partnering Prasidh Krishna.
Pursuing what could be the highest run-chase at the iconic venue, England looked fairly comfortable before Mohammed Siraj cleaned up Zak Crawley with the final ball of the day as the home sided ended at 50 for one.
Earlier, as the sun shone bright, Jaiswal forged a 107-stand for the third wicket with Akash (66, 94b, 12×4). Having lost two wickets, it was a test of patience for the Indian batters, and with Jaiswal holding firm, Akash frustrated the England bowlers as runs flowed.
Akash went on to score his maiden international fifty and also became the third Indian nightwatcher — after Chetan Sharma and Amit Mishra — to score a Test half-century. Incidentally, back in 2011, Mishra scored 84 against England at the same venue.
At a crucial juncture of the match, Akash stepped up and built that long partnership, which eventually put India in the driver’s seat. By the time Jamie Overton broke the stand, with Akash offering a leading edge that carried to point, India was on course.
And, with the butter-fingered England fielders dropping six catches, Jaiswal flexed his muscles. Playing every ball on its merit, Jaiswal brought up 82 of his first 100 runs behind square, and significantly, his second hundred of the series also came with a nudge in the same area.
England, however, started the second session well as Shubman Gill was trapped in front off an in-swinging delivery by Gus Atkison. The dejected Indian captain fell 20 runs short of Sunil Gavaskar’s record tally of 774 runs — the most by an Indian batter in a Test series.
Karun Nair, walking in on the back of a first-innings fifty, struggled before gloving a pitched-up delivery from Atkinson which bounced. But those dismissals did not deter Jaiswal as he added 44 runs for the sixth wicket with Jadeja and eventually brought up his fourth century against England.
As he sprinted towards the Micky Stewart Pavilion and raised his bat, Jaiswal’s innings also resembled the mindset of the Indian team, which has shown tremendous fighting spirit in coming back from difficult situations.
Josh Tongue (five for 125) ended Jaiswal’s vigil. But Jadeja and Washington ensured India remained on top before Siraj provided a psychological boost.
Published – August 02, 2025 05:54 pm IST
