England succumb to Fourth Test defeat following afternoon collapse

England suffered a dramatic collapse at The Oval to lose the Fourth Test and end their hopes of a series victory with one match remaining.

Haseeb Hameed (63) and Rory Burns had already posted 77 on the evening of day four in their chase of 368, and the latter went onto score his 11th Test 50 as England reached triple figures without loss.

However, that changed with the very next ball as Burns edged into the hands of Rishabh Pant off the bowling of Shardul Thakur.

Hameed would also register his half-century before running out Dawid Malan (5), as things began to get gradually worse for the hosts.

The Lancastrian opener called for an ambitious single off the bowling of Ravi Jadeja and sold his teammate well short of the crease.

That brought Joe Root in, and while the skipper may have developed a habit of saving his side from the realms of disappointment, it would take a miraculous innings from Root to prevent what eventually unfolded.

England lost their third wicket of the session as Hameed attempted to push a Jadeja delivery from around the wicket into the leg-side. Instead, a hint of turn took the ball past Hameed’s outside-edge and into off-stump.

Ollie Pope (2) and Jonny Bairstow (0) were both swiftly undone by some terrific quick bowling from Jasprit Bumrah too, as India ran rampant and took control of the game at 146-5.

Off the back of a classy first-innings knock, Pope became Bumrah’s 100th Test wicket before the 27-year-old castled Jonny Bairstow with a lethal trademark yorker.

Jadeja would claim a second wicket as Moeen Ali fell for a fourth ball duck after chipping into the hands of substitute fielder Suryakumar Yadav at short leg.

Root and Chris Woakes (18) put on a brief resistance of 32 as their side’s final hope, but Thakur capped a brilliant individual performance with the huge scalp as Root dragged his shot on when attempting to run the ball towards third-man.

The match was effectively settled when Woakes hit the ball straight into the hands of KL Rahul at midwicket off the bowling of Umesh Yadav.

Yadav produced a peach of a delivery to see off Craig Overton (10), prior to sealing the victory by finding the edge of James Anderson (2).

Despite England’s batting lineup crumbling under pressure once more, credit must be given to Virat K0hli and India. The tourists fought back from an ominous position and showed the character that is a necessity for all successful teams.

On the other hand, Root will rue the fact that his side threw away a positive result from a position of strength. Whilst their second-innings bowling display was more than disappointing, England’s collapse was ultimately the main source of defeat.

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