Only finishing as they started will do for England now. Just as in Leeds six weeks ago, they are required to complete their second biggest Test chase in history to defeat India.
Should the pursuit of 374 be successful – of which 50 were chipped off for the final-over loss of Zak Crawley on the third evening – it will be in keeping with a feisty, must-watch series that has only strengthened Test cricket’s claim to being the ultimate format of the game.
Drama has lurked round every corner, so don’t rule out Chris Woakes – already resigned to missing the Ashes with a dislocated shoulder – walking to the crease to bat one-handed with the winning runs in sight late this evening.
At times, it has felt like this contest has been slipping through England’s fingers. Literally so, with six dropped chances. Metaphorically when Washington Sundar was bashing a team undermanned by Woakes’ loss to all parts of Kennington and beyond.
Only once have an England team negotiated a bigger fourth-innings tally to win – the 378 that levelled the series against India at Edgbaston in 2022.
Odds are that this will be a replica 2-2 scoreline, following Mohammed Siraj’s castling of an uncharacteristically strokeless Crawley late on, but the sloppiness by England this week has been in the field.
Opener Zak Crawley lost his wicket off the final ball of day three, leaving England 50 for one
India bowler Mohammed Siraj pictured celebrating after removing Crawley with a fine yorker
Yashasvi Jaiswal, gifted two lives on the second evening, continued to flirt with danger when he resumed what was to become his sixth Test hundred, and fourth against England, flashing his first boundary of the day through a hole in the slip cordon at head height off Tongue.
At the other end, nightwatchman Akash Deep survived a LBW review on umpire’s call from a jag-backer from the unfortunate Tongue, whose mood would not have been improved by Crawley flooring a knee-high edge to third slip next ball.
It was England’s fourth drop inside 26 overs and never before, since records began 20 years ago, had they shown such levels of profligacy. The misses only serving to fatigue further a weary attack missing its experienced head.
India began day three on 75 for two, but the frustration of a wicketless first hour in which Deep surpassed his previous Test high of 31 led to stand-in captain Ollie Pope briefly leaving the field in search of inspiration from head coach Brendon McCullum.
If it was forthcoming, it did not halt the Indian momentum, as Deep dominated the scoring in a third-wicket stand of 107, taking particular toll on England’s first-innings hero Gus Atkinson, who, having conceded a single boundary in figures of five for 33, leaked more than 20 second time around.
Deep’s bravado surged him to a 70-ball half century and by the time his luck ran out via a leading edge off Jamie Overton, the entire England team could have been forgiven for wanting to shepherd him off in retaliation for his inappropriate contact with Ben Duckett post-dismissal 24 hours earlier.
Instead, the latest tetchiness of a series that has simmered throughout was reserved for Jaiswal as the players left the field for lunch.
England knew a second success before the break would be gold dust. India knew it too and so Jaiswal’s cramp on its eve would have felt either timely or fabricated depending on which dressing room you were sat in.
Momentum is now with India, while England need another 324 runs to win the fifth Test match
Gus Atkinson took three wickets in India’s second innings, following on from his incredible five-for earlier in the match, but his economy rate was now significantly higher
The injury delay denied England another over and after Jaiswal was asked to scamper through for a single by Shubman Gill from the last delivery of the session, he was swarmed by fielders sarcastically inquiring after his health on his journey to the pavilion. Pope even offered a tit-for-tat arm around the shoulder.
Crucially, though, it left Gill on strike and when a fresh Atkinson nipped the first delivery back into his pads, it resulted in an all-too-familiar dismissal for India’s rookie captain.
Since he racked up 585 runs in the opening two matches, England have had Gill’s measure, targeting his stumps rather than his outside edge.
But the same cannot be said of Ravindra Jadeja and Sundar, the pair who kept the series alive with their marathon stand in Manchester.
Had England possessed a full complement of bowlers, and a frontline spinner, they might have exploited Karun Nair’s failure to take advantage of a life offered him by Harry Brook, when a nick off Atkinson reduced India to 229 for five – an advantage of 206.
Instead, they were forced into game management mode, treading water towards the second new ball with overs from Joe Root and Jacob Bethell at one end while their new-ball operators rested.
In the circumstances, Jadeja cruised to a sixth half century in seven visits to the crease, successfully overturning a leg before awarded to Tongue, when on 24, shortly after Jaiswal’s departure for 118.
Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrated a century on Saturday as India made 396 in their second innings
England may now need a nice big knock from Ben Duckett if they are to win this Test in London
And so it was not until the cusp of the second new ball becoming available that England gained further rewards: India’s lead was 300 when Dhruv Jurel was defeated by a beauty from Overton and Tongue continued his reputation for cleaning up tails.
Not before Sundar reminded Brook of his words of a week ago, though. ‘Get on with it, Washy,’ Brook had been caught saying on the stump mikes. He certainly did here, crashing three sixes in five deliveries, and four in all, in a rapid 53, the majority of which was made while expertly farming the strike with No 11 Prasidh Krishna.
Tongue had the last word, as Crawley held on to a skier despite being bumped by Pope, to complete a five-wicket haul and briefly become the leading wicket taker in the series.
Now, over to the batsmen to see if they can make it a winning one.