England vs India, 5th Test at London, ENG vs IND, Jul 31 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Is that good news or bad news? To each their own, I suppose, but it does offer time to process all that's happened, especially in the final session.
You can relive it all in Matt Roller's report and hopefully, are geared up to go all in, one last time this series. Bye for now from me, Ekanth, my co-commentator, Alan Gardner, and our scorers, Thilak Ram and Ranjith P.

6:01pm Umpires walk back upstairs. Still no ground-clearing activity yet. Ahsan Raza is going into the England dressing room and stumps are called! Somehow, this series goes to day 25! Booooos around the ground, Sid Monga says. Quite the anticlimax to a seesawing day. Well, it see'd England's way for most of it before saw'ing in the 10.2 overs of the final session. England's Nos. 7 and 8 will have the benefit of the roller tomorrow morning. For Siraj, Prasidh and Akash Deep, there's a night's rest. Gill was calling for a 'one last push' before play ended, they'll have to save that for tomorrow.

Lance Martis : "Eng will use the hard roller tomorrow morning because of which the pitch becomes quiet for 30-40 mins, enough to score the runs....hard luck for India, the rhythm was there now"

abdullah : "Sampath has been kept busy recently. is he ever off duty?" Well, he has off days... but those are the ones he starts working before everyone.

Jake: "Hard to understand how bad Siraj must be feeling right now. His dolly opened the gate for England, and even that drop put indirect pressure on Prasidh who was bowling really well. No matter what will be the result, this is huge learning curve for the man."

Theo: "I may have missed this in the comms - but if I am correct Joe Root's century was the 100th by an English man in Test Cricket at the Oval…." Yes, Sampath confirms

5:53pm Groundstaff out there starting the clean-up (but still very thin drizzle falling), Matt says. There are some blue skies too. Umpires walk out three minutes later. They chat with Lee Fortis, the head groundsman. The umbrellas are down but the covers aren't being moved.

Sanket: "Hard to understand how bad Bethell must be feeling right now. His wicket open the gate for India, and even that wicket put indirect pressure on Root who was batting really well. No matter what will be the result, this is huge learning curve for the young man."

5:45pm Matt says it's eased a fair bit, but it's still raining and that the umbrellas are still up. "Very light now, but still falling," he says a couple of minutes later. Play needs to restart by 6:42pm if it is to continue this evening. It can go on till 7:30pm.

Neelim : "It's 1 am in Singapore, should I stay up or go to sleep" Worth staying up for a little while if you're able to.

Saurabhk : "Not a good decision to go for bump catch review. In the time krishna can deliver next 3 balls and get a wicket of overton"

Dhilipraja: "As an Indian fan, my feelings are always reversed. If Ind needs 35 runs with 4 wickets left, I always think it's very tight and hopeless. If Eng needs 35 with 4 wickets left, I think they are gonna do it easily."

5:38pm Rain started coming down a bit more, Paul Muchmore informs, run-ups being covered now. Side covers coming on, Matt adds a couple of minutes later... 'getting a bit heavier, umbrellas up. Lashing down now.'

Josh Selig: "Could we win on the Duckworth-Lewis Method?" Sternly not

Dave G: "Dear England batters, for goodness sake, stop taking an off-stump guard!!"

As per Miller's seaweed, things should clear around 5.50pm

5:29pm Light-meter brought out... and the players walk off due to bad light! The players walk back up. Woakes is in his whites but with a sling around his left arm. No rain yet, but covers being brought on.

Pmdixit: "India lose the momentum advantage "

shrish : "blessing in disguise for India. pacers needed rest and can now recover!"

Rose: "Just started raining pretty heavily in East London (about 5 miles away). Hopefully it's not heading in that direction"

Maximus : "Why tense faces? this is still England's match to lose. Jamie Smith and Overton aren't mugs with the bat. " 8 for 2 in the last six overs though

Murmur continues in the crowd. A few nails being bitten

pratik: "India should persist with old ball"

Indian fans keeping the energy high

Vidya: "a fitting end to the wonderful series"

Sri: "All three results are possible: Eng win, Ind win, Tie!"

There's interruption behind the sightscreen. Someone's moving. Prasidh nearly delivered at first, had to stop at the top of his mark later.

girish: "that last wicket partnership for India with Sundar's onslaught proving to very crucial now"

Tense faces among the crowd

Charles Gwillim: "Bethel cracked under the pressure and opened the door for India and England lose the left/right combination. " Brook went expansive, so did Jaiswal. Can be tough to judge the impact of these things

Mukesh Sinha: "Smith will try and finish this quickly"

Sami: "Swing for the fences Jamie"

Pranav: "It's the hope that kills, isn't it? "

Max: "The new ball is now in sight! This could get very interesting" Close to seven overs to go

Overton walks out. Siraj is smiling, so is Stokes in the balcony. Crowd's buzzing again