The hosts dominated a rain-marred day, but it’s Karun Nair whose gritty, unbeaten knock has kept India in the quest for a challenging total.
A Ben Stokes-less England featured in the last Test of the 2025 English Cricket summer. Though Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue were brutal with the ball, it was Karun Nair who struck an important fifty to save India from the jaws of getting bowled out to a low total in a rain-interrupted day 1 of the 5th Test match of the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at The Oval, London, on Thursday.
The start wasn’t great for India as they lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early after losing the toss for the fifth time this series. Followed by the dismissal of KL Rahul, who Chris Woakes sent back. After the rain break, India went into grave trouble when they lost their In-form skipper Shubman Gill in a run-out inflicted by Gus Atkinson. After a cat-and-mouse game with the rain, India lost a focused Sai Sudharsan.
India were losing wickets from one end, with Ravindra Jadeja and Dhruv Jurel failing to score big. But it was Karun Nair, who at last made good use of the extra chance he got as he struck a brilliant fifty to bring back life in this innings for India. Washington Sundar assisted Karun with an unbeaten 51-run stand, which has given the men in blue a chance for a challenging total in this encounter.
Though eyes will be on Karun Nair and Washington Sundar on day 2, England will look to get the remaining 4 wickets early with the help of the green pitch. Rain is expected to show its presence again on Day 2. On the basis of the current situation of this game, we may see England bat on Day 2.
Game of Stats & Records
- Shubman Gill surpasses Sunil Gavaskar as the Indian Captain with the most runs in a single Test Series.
- After Shubman Gill, it’s KL Rahul who is the second Indian batter to face more than one thousand balls in this Test series.
- This is Karun Nair’s second fifty-plus score of his Test career after his famous triple hundred against the same opponent in Chennai, back in 2016.
