Gus Atkinson returned to the English Test side from injury lay-off with a five-wicket haul in the fifth Test against India going on at the Oval in London. The right-arm pacer added three wickets on the second day to his tally of two on the opening day to complete his fifer, which is his fourth in just 13 Tests.
Atkinson's five-wicket haul helped England bowl India out for only 224 quite early on the second day of the Test. India began the day at 204/6 with Karun Nair batting on 54 and Washington Sundar also set. However, Atkinson's burst did not let India get much as he picked three of the remaining four wickets to wrap things up.
The tall pacer finished with 5 for 33 in 21.4 overs out of which eight were maidens. He was the most disciplined bowler for England on the first day and picked up wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel. He also affected a run out of Indian captain Shubman Gill on his own bowling. On the second day, he dismissed Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna to complete his fifer.
While his fitness remains an issue, whenever Atkinson has donned the whites for England, he has been really good. He already has four fifers now and his strike rate is a scarcely believable 34.9, the best in Test cricket history for at least 60 wickets.
England would hope they can keep him fit and that would help the Three Lions to replace the void left by James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
India Vs England, 5th Test - Playing XIs
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel(w), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope(c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue
