Welcome to England, India. Or at least, welcome to the England their batters might have expected when touching down at the start of June. Cloud cover, stoppages for rain, and seamers operating on a green-tinged surface — the opening day at the Oval was certainly a far cry from what came before.
And yet by the time stumps came at 7.30pm the tourists had scrapped their way to a serviceable 204 for six from 64 overs and it was England who were feeling a bit glum. Though the hosts went into this series decider 2-1 up, a late injury to Chris Woakes took the shine off a day that, until that point, had been all about Gus Atkinson’s stellar return on his home ground.
