TEST CRICKET

AUTHOR: Star Sports Content

STAR CRICKET PREVIEW Thu: England v India, 5th Test

A series that has provided drama, huge amounts of runs, and a grand dose of controversy ends when England face India in the final test at The Oval, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.

The story of Old Trafford

Another runfest took place, despite conditions that aided bowlers considering the considerable cloud, cooling temperatures. India posted 358 first up with Sai Sudharsan (68) Yashavi Jaiswal (58) a one legged Rishabh Pant (54) leading the charge against Ben Stokes (5-72), but were blown out of the water as England steamrollered their way to 669 with big hundreds for Joe Root (150), the outstanding Stokes (141), and fine knocks from Ben Duckett (94) and Zak Crawley (84) that deserved three figures.

Chris Woakes produced one of the spells of the match to lave India 0-2 and staring at what looked like a certain defeat, but to their credit KL Rahul (90) and Shubman Gill (103) dug in magnificently to see off the threat and when they were removed by Stokes and Archer, Washington Sundar (103) and Ravindra Jadeja (107) saw India through to a testy ending, keeping Ben Stokes and his men in the field to the point they turned down a draw for their centuries. Another runfest in the bank, with the Indians probably the happier of the two sides.

Information
5th Men’s Test, Tendulkar – Anderson Trophy
The Oval, London
Thursday 31st July – Monday 4th August
Live on Sky Sports, Sky Go and NOW TV from 11am Thursday 31st Jul

Pitch Report/Pitch Talk

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Scoring at the Oval varies, with first innings runs in recent tests not as high as some other venues used in this series. The average first innings score is 338, but the last five test first innings are 325-283-469-118-191, when Steven Smith (121) and Travis Head (163) saved Australia and played a big part in their World Test Championship victory. Batting in that test appeared to become easier during the middle overs, something that has become ever more true in English tests, although bowlers were in the game for a lot of those tests.

There was grass on the pitch when photographed (and filmed, as Gatuham Gambir had a tawdry spat with head groundsman Lee Fields on Monday), but that has been the case elsewhere before wickets that have been in the main excellent for batters. The softness of the dukes ball during the middle overs (25 onwards) as discussed many times during this series, has been a crucial factor in the big totals this summer. There are showers forecast for Thursday and Sunday at the time of writing and clouds set for every day of the test bar Saturday. At the moment the surface is described as the greenest of the series by Will Macpherson, as of 9am this morning:

Like Old Trafford, batting can get easier depending on conditions – the second, third and fourth-innings average runs per wicket read: 26, 30 and 34 according to Ed Hawkins of Betfair.

In the County Championship, there have been some big run totals – the world record 820/9 from Surrey against Durham stands out with a Kookaburra ball, but Surrey have scored 358 (Somerset, April), and 512 (Yorkshire, May) with the Dukes whilst posting 279 & 289/7 against Essex to boot.

Team News

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England have their biggest shakeup in a while with four changes. Ben Stokes is unavailable due to a tear in her in his right shoulder which will rule him out for 6-10 weeks, whilst Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer are rested following high workloads through the series. Liam Dawson – perhaps rather harshly – is dropped, with Ollie Pope the new captain, Jacob Bethell slotting in at six as Dawson’s replacement, and Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue making the new seam attack alongside Chris Woakes, who has played every test of the series.

Expect India to rest Jaspit Bumrah after his three tests, whilst Risabh Pant is out following a foot fracture. Dhruv Jurel has been brilliant with the gloves so far and will slot in for him and Bumrah’s spot will go to Akash Deep, who has recovered from a groin problem and was brilliant at Edgbaston. A test match debut for Arshdeep Singh (63 T20Is with 99 wickets and nine ODIs with 14 wickets) looks highly likely.

There are two calls to be made for Gill – will he find the space for Yuldeep Yadav alongside Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, and will Shardul Thakur, who has two fifties at Lord’s and made a handy 41 at Old Trafford, keep his place?

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (capt), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue

🇮🇳 India (possible): Rahul, Jaiswal, Sai, Gill, Jadeja, Jurel, Sundar, Thakur/Kuldeep, Arsdeep, Siraj, Akash

🏏 Match Verdict

The betting for the match result is fascinating, with a case to be made for all three results. It was something of a surprise that Old Trafford was the one draw this series and whilst a draw is extremely tradeable – especially given the fact some time looks to be lost to rain – a result would look the most likely of the outcomes assuming we get a reasonable amount of play today.

With mass changes, there are arguments against both sides. England will miss Stokes’ leadership and form in terms of working the Dukes ball massively whilst Dawson might count himself unlucky to be out for all that Bethell brings – on paper – batting power, although his form isn’t matching his ability at the moment.

India will miss Bumrah even though their only test win is without him this series, and they will miss the explosive power of Pant even more. The return of Deep is a bonus but Mohammed Siraj has endured a long series and may not be as effective and India bowled very poorly in Manchester even allowing for the condition. It looks a trader’s game, for all there’s a case for all three results with starsports.bet with the weather likely to take some time out of the match.

Batters – England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 

Joe Root was superb at Old Trafford and clearly is in top touch after a slow start to the series. The boosted price of 7/2 for first innings runscorer is worth backing if interested and 13/10 for a first innings 50 is fair although there’s more value on paper lower down the order especially if England are put into bat first.

Jamie Smith had a rare failure at Old Trafford – he caught one of the better balls Jaspit Bumrah sent down whilst being tonked everywhere else – but otherwise he’s had a fine series with scores of 40, 44 not out, 184 not out, 88, 51, 8, and 9. The two failures were on a Lord’s pitch where Washington Sundar found the first serious turn of the series and bad luck at Old Trafford, and Smith now returns to his home ground with protection against the new ball regardless of conditions.

5/2 for a first innings 50 starsports.bet backing again and 8/1 for the first innings runscorer is also too big.

Batters – India 🇮🇳 

Shubman Gill is on the verge of a record breaking tour and has to be respected along with KL Rahul but both them and Yashasvi Jaiswal will face the toughest batting conditions. They overcame this at Old Trafford but at the prices and given his form, Ravindra Jadeja has to be the pick. Jadeja’s scores this series read 11, 25 not out, 89, 69 not out, 72, 61 not out, 20 and 107 not out at an average of 113.50 and with Risabh Pant – a key rivals in this market – now out he’s likely to come in at 5 to boot against a softer dukes ball. 15/8 with starsports.bet for a first innings 50 is recommended again and he’s worth a punt to top the first innings runscorer charts.

Bowlers – England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Josh Tongue started the series in excellent style as he swept through the Indian tail in quick time at Headingley, with figures of 4-86 and 3-72. Released from the squad in the interim for Jofra Archer and Liam Dawson, he returns as one of three fresh bowlers here and brings form and fitness to the table here. Chris Woakes found threat at Old Trafford early on but he’s played four gruelling tests, Gus Atkinson is making a comeback from injury and Jamie Overton’s one red ball appearance (admittedly with a Kookaburra) was 0/81 in the County Championship.

Bowlers – India 🇮🇳

Mohammed Siraj is tempting as the attack leader, but he’s played every game during this series and fatigue could blunt his effectiveness. Akash Deep, brilliant at Edgbaston, is the most tempting pick and has reportedly trained well but is making an injury comeback. Look for any signs of turn in play – that would make Washington Sundar very dangerous.

Star Boosts/Specials

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🏏 Joe Root Top England (1st Innings) Run Scorer: 7/2 (Was 3/1)

Centuries in his last two first innings suggest he’s back in touch and this could be some value esp if he’s able to get some reasonable protection from top three.

🏏 Harry Brook to Score 1st Innings Century: 5/1 (Was 4/1)

Should have two first innings centuries but has struggled to stay in recently. Can make an argument at the numbers if he locks in but going could be slightly tougher for batters here.

🏏 England to Win & Joe Root 100+ Match Runs: 5/2

Tempting given Root’s form, although the absence of Stokes is a big negative for English chances and possibly toss reliant too. Worse bets

🏏 India to Win or Draw & Shubman Gill 100+ Match Runs: 5/2

India are arguably overpriced, although there are slight worries overthe  weather and the toss, whilst they’ll need Deep and Singh to come back straight to their best form. Backing Gill for individual totals maybe best approach.

🏏 KL Rahul & Yashasvi Jaiswal to Score 100+ Match Runs Each: 6/1

Tempting given Rahul’s form but risky if India bat first and Jaiswal has been loose on occasion.

RECOMMENDED BETS
BACK Joe Root Top England Runscorer (1st Innings, boosted) 1pt at 7/2 with starsports.bet
BACK Jamie Smith to score 50+ runs (1st Innings) 2pts at 5/2 with starsports.bet
BACK Jamie Smith top 1st Innings Run Scorer (England) 1pt at 8/1 with starsports.bet
BACK Ravindra Jadeja to score 50+ runs (1st Innings) 1pt at 15/8 with starsports.bet
BACK Ravindra Jadeja top 1st Innings Run Scorer (India) 1pt at 13/2 with starsports.bet
BACK Josh Tongue top 1st Innings Wicket Taker (England) 1pt at 10/3 with starsports.bet

PROFIT/LOSS (JUL 2025): -33.97 points

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