Siraj the star as India level series with epic six-run victory

A dank grey morning in South London, a packed crowd at the Kia Oval, and 53 of the most extraordinary deliveries in Test-match history … all of which culminated in the inevitable, indefatigable redemption of Mohammed Siraj, whose gut-busting five-wicket haul trumped a very different, but every bit as heroic, intercession from England's incapacitated Chris Woakes, in one of the greatest climaxes in all of Test history.

Twenty years ago, on this very day, the legendary Edgbaston Ashes Test of 2005 got underway, but even that match's breathless two-run finish paled compared to the agonising drama that spanned a solitary hour of play of this, the 25th and final day of another all-timer of a Test series. By the end of it all, India had landed their closest victory in Test history, by six runs. Their players were doing a lap of honour in front of a sea of their jubilant fans, grins beaming out from their battle-weary bodies, safe in the knowledge that they had earned every drop of the acclaim.

This final act had been forced upon the series by the chaotic thunderstorm that had ended the fourth day early … arguably to England's benefit in that moment, given the hot vein of form that Siraj had located to drag the contest, kicking and screaming back in India's direction after Harry Brook and Joe Root had, at one stage, threatened to rampage to a victory target of 373.

With one last burst of Lee Fortis' heavy roller before play, and with the potential for Siraj and his crucial sidekick Prasidh Krishna to resume with an adrenaline hangover, England were arguably favourites when play resumed, with 35 runs needed and three (and a half) wickets in hand. When Jamie Overton duly cracked two fours from Krishna's first two balls of the day - the latter, admittedly, very streakily past his leg stump - that equation was in danger of being settled in a matter of minutes.

Siraj, however, was not letting this one slip. Of all the extraordinary moments in the course of five breathless Tests, nothing had threatened to have a more lasting legacy than his own crestfallen face-palm at deep fine leg on the fourth afternoon, in the moment that he stepped on the boundary rope to turn a regulation top-edge from Brook into a momentum-shifting six.

Coupled with his cruel luck with the bat in a similarly tense finale at Lord's, it was an error that had drawn Siraj's heart ever more fervently onto his sleeve. It had been his mission to make amends every step of the way of his exhausting 30.1-over effort, and the deliverance would prove to be exquisite. The winning moment came with a pinpoint yorker to uproot Gus Atkinson's off stump, as he swung lustily once more - knowing that Woakes, his left arm in a sling after dislocating his shoulder in the field, could not be asked to do more than just be there. However, that snapshot hardly scratches the surface of the drama he ignited.

Siraj's final act began with 27 runs left to defend, and England's most likely matchwinner, Jamie Smith, in his sights on 2 not out from 17 balls. Right from the get-go, he located that crucial old-ball movement, and got his pace cranked up into the high-80s in the process. But, with Smith inevitably itching to get this done quickly - as is the Bazball ethos - Siraj cunningly kept his line wide, forcing the batter to come looking for his drives, and duly hitting paydirt with his third ball of the day - a palpable nick through to Dhruv Jurel that the umpires, under extraordinary pressure themselves, took upstairs to double-check.

In an instant, the momentum lurched violently in India's direction, and Atkinson, the new man, might have gone first ball as he was squared up by Siraj's tighter line only for the ball to reach KL Rahul on the half-volley at second slip. At the other end, Overton's long levers - which have attracted the interest of England's white-ball teams in recent years - were stymied by six men back on the rope, one of whom, Ravindra Jadeja, pulled off a tigerish stop at deep cover to save a priceless boundary as Atkinson drove firmly off Krishna.

Siraj, however, was still the main man. With the old ball still talking, a big inswinger crunched into Overton's pad as he was pinned on the crease, and it was the voracity of the appeal that prised the crucial decision. Umpire Dharmasena waited an eternity before deciding that the appeal was worthy… and Overton's desperate review duly confirmed that the ball would have been clipping leg stump.

Moments later, umpire Ahsan Raza was similarly convinced by the inswinger, as Josh Tongue was pinned by Krishna, but this time his review was clearly shown to be missing leg. In his next over, however, Krishna didn't need the umpire's assistance. A piledriver of a yorker burst through Tongue's defences for a 12-ball duck, and at 357 for 9, the die was cast for an extraordinary contest to receive an immortal finale.

This was a match that burgled plotlines from a host of immortal predecessors - not least Trent Boult's boundary-catch-that-wasn't in the 2019 World Cup final. But now, 40 minutes into the day's play, out strode Woakes from the pavilion, one arm completely encased by a sling beneath his jumper, charged with the task of hanging in there as best he could, as England's last man Atkinson attempted to hack away the 17 runs still needed for victory.

Sixty-two years have elapsed since Colin Cowdrey did likewise at Lord's in 1963, returning to the crease with a broken arm, with England six runs from victory and with one wicket still standing. In those less chaotic days, David Allen opted not to go for broke against Wes Hall with two balls of the match to come, and Cowdrey was not required to do more than lean on his bat. Woakes, on the other hand, had a significantly more torrid role in store.

The onus, though, was on Atkinson to score the runs. Two balls into Siraj's next over, he connected magnificently with a launch across the line, as Akash Deep - in off the rope at deep midwicket - could only palm the ball across the rope as he leapt in vain to intercept. Three air-shots ensued, whereupon - from the last ball of the over - Woakes hurtled off for a bye to the keeper, his arm bouncing out of his sling in the process, leaving him wincing in agony as umpire Raza helped to swaddle him back into position.

There was no respite, however. "Two!" was Atkinson's instant call one ball later, as he found rare space in the deep off Krishna to take the target into single figures. And though he could not make further inroads from the next four balls, the sixth was a gift, tight and full on the stumps, and a calm nudge to mid-on to keep the strike once more, and take England to within one blow of tying the scores.

Siraj, however, wasn't letting this cause slip now. In he hurtled for one final effort ball. Back went Atkinson's off stump as he swung for the hills once again. Out came Siraj's "siu" celebration as his team-mates swamped him in adulation. Off went the celebrations all across a nation that had no doubt come to a standstill on an otherwise nondescript Monday afternoon. So ended one of the most breathless hours ever witnessed in 148 years and 2,598 Tests. And one of the most compelling series in living memory.