India end the opening day at 204 for 6. They would have been in an even poorer condition, had Karun Nair not scored a fighting fifty (52 not out). Not to forget the gritty 19 not out from Washington Sundar as well, who has stitched an unbeaten 51-run partnership with Nair for the seventh wicket.

That is the fifty for Karun Nair! "Dear cricket" has given him yet another chance and he is making it count this time. After failing to impress in the first three Tests vs England, Nair was dropped for the fourth game. He was then recalled into the playing XI for the final match. The right-handed batter races to his half-century in the toughest conditions in this series. Nair has reached the mark in 89 balls. What a knock this has been! He has fought really hard for it.

IND 201/6 (61.1) 

It was an expensive over from Josh Tongue. Nine runs came off it. Washington Sundar hit the first ball of the over for a four around the mid-wicket region while Karun Nair slammed the final ball of the over, which was a full toss, for a four through cover point. 

56.5 - Karun Nair drove Jamie Overton's fuller delivery down the ground. It went through mid-off as Chris Woakes gave it a chase. He stopped the ball from racing to the fence but a diving attempt saw the player injuring his shoulder. The physio has run in to check him...

Woakes is now walking out of the ground. He is seemigly in extreme pain as the player is using his sweater to hold his shoulder.

A fuller ball from Jamie Overton on the legs of Karun Nair and the batter flicked it away for a four through the backward square leg. With that shot, Nair moves to 38, joint-top score by an Indian batter in this innings.

Gus Atkinson has bowled a good length ball onto the pads of Washington Sundar and the batter has flicked it away through fine leg for a four. Umpire signals a no-ball as well. India get a total of five runs off it. Boundaries have been coming quite easily for India, of late. 

IND 168/6 (51.3)

After the fourth ball of the Jamie Overton over, there was a short stoppage in play due to a bizarre reason. A lady was standing in front of a gate around the sight screen and that was disturbing Nair. It seemed that the lady wanted to go inside but nobody was opening the door. The play was halted for a moment before it resumed. 

IND 163/6 (51)

It was a poor ball from Jamie Overton and got the right treatment. The right-arm pacer bowled a fuller delivery down the leg stump to Karun Nair and the batter flicked it away for a four through fine leg. On the next delivery, Nair tried to defend the ball but he hit it from outside half of his bat as the ball ran away for a four past the gully.

IND 163/6 (50.4)

Gus Atkinson has outplayed Dhruv Jurel and the latter is OUT. It was a good length ball outside off-stump and had surprising bounce off the surface. Jurel went to cut it and ended up finding the man in slip. He is out for 19 off 40 balls.

A short ball and bit wide from Jamie Overton and Dhruv Jurel hit it over the infield for a four. With no fielder in the deep, it was a hit me ball from Overton. With that shot, India cross the mark of 150 runs.

The duo of Dhruv Jurel and Karun Nair is the last batting pair for India. After this, all-rounder Washington Sundar will be coming to bat and following him are only the bowlers. All in all, India badly need a big partnership from Jurel and Nair to give their bowlers something to fight.  

42.4 - Karun Nair got an inside edge on the Chris Woakes delivery but he was lucky to not lose his wicket there. It was a good length ball from Woakes. Nair defended it but got an inside edge. The ball flew over the stumps for a four.

39.3 - Ravindra Jadeja has been dismissed by Josh Tongue. That is the second wicket for the pacer and India find themselves in massive trouble here. They are five down. Coming to the dismissal, it was a short of length ball that was angling into Jadeja. The batter had to play it but the ball swung away and took his outside edge to wicketkeeper.

Josh Tongue... AGAIN!
Another ripper and this time it's Ravindra Jadeja who goes.
pic.twitter.com/snNc7xCUY1

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 31, 2025

A fuller ball from Josh Tonhue and Karun Nair has driven it away for a four. It was a beautiful shot from Nair. On the other hand, England will also be happy with the fact that Nair is going for the drives outside off-stump.

IND 108/4 (37.1)

Massive blow for India! Sai Sudharsan is out caught behind on the bowling of Josh Tongue. It was a peach of a delivery and Sudharsan could not have done much to be honest. That was angling into him before the ball swung away and took the outside edge of his bat. Sudharsan is gone for 38 off 108 balls.

IND 101/4 (35.4)

34.3 - A four from the bat of Sai Sudharsan and 100 is up for Team India. The ball went through the gap between the third slip and gully for the boundary. The visitors are going well here despite losing three wickets.

That is a good shot from Sai Sudharsan. Jamie Overton pitched it short onto the body of the southpaw. He got on top of the ball and guided it past the backward point for a four. He moves to 34 off 98 balls with that shot.

IND 96/3 (32.3)

On the fourth delivery of the 31st over by Jamie Overton, Karun Nair left the delivery that went just over the stumps. It was a close call as the good length ball swung into him sharply and bounced over the off-stump.  

IND 89/3 (31)

Sai Sudharsan is on the strike, Karun Nair is at the other end. Gus Atkinson will bowl the first over post the Tea session. Here we go... Atkinson begins with a fuller ball on the stumps and Sudharsan defends it on the front foot.

There is no more rain but the resumption of the match has been delayed due to wet outfield at the venue. A total of 21 overs have been lost so far on the day, informed India's official broadcaster for the series. A new restart time is 9:15 pm IST. 

If there is no more rain, the play for the final session will start on 9 pm IST. The covers are being taken off and a good news is that the sun is out. Let's be a bit optimistic and hope there is no more rain today.

It seems that the rain has stopped as the covers are coming off. Tea has already been taken. So the ground staff have some good time to make it match-ready again. They are working a lot today, courtest the rain.

Due to rain at Kennington Oval, London. Tea has been taken early. It was rescheduled to take place at 9:35 pm IST but the return of rain has changed the schedule again. Only 29 overs of play has been possible so far. India are 85 for 3 with Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair in the middle.

Former India player Sunil Gavaskar had quite a blunt take on the Shubman Gill run-out in this innings. "Suicidal. If he could not make it from half way down the pitch, how can he expect that Sai Sudharsan can make it from 20 yards down the pitch," said Gavaskar.

A moment of madness from Shubman Gill!
Gus Atkinson throws down the stumps with the India captain stranded.
pic.twitter.com/cYa1PUbPAI

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 31, 2025

The rain is back at Kennington Oval, London. The players are walking back and the ground staff are going in with cover. This is so frustrating for India. The batting is becomes more challenging for them in such conditions. To make it further worse, Gill lost his wicket to a run-out.

India have registered a new record. This outing has the most runs India have scored in a Test series. At the score of 83/3, India had 3272 runs in the series against England, surpassing their previous best of 3270 against West Indies in 1978-79.

This is a massive blunder from Shubman Gill. He tapped the Gus Atkinson delivery to the left of the bowler and tried to steal a single. There was never a run and Sai Sudharsan, after taking a step forward, denied the single but Gill had already crossed the half-way mark by then. As he tried to return to his crease, Atkinson effected a direct throw to send the India captain packing. He is out on the score of 21.

That delivery from Jamie Overton nearly had Sai Sudharsan dismissed. The ball missed the outside edge of the bat by a narrow margin. It was a full ball, swinging into Sudharsan. The ball then shaped away from him, missing the outside edge. 

Jamie Overton bowled a half volley to Shubman Gill outside off-stump and the India captain hit it away for a four. Gill punched the ball through the left of mid-off for the boundary. It was a well-controlled shot from Gill as he didn't hit it hard but rather went with timing.

Gus Atkinson bowled the first over post the Lunch session. He started with a maiden over to Sai Sudharsan. India need a solid partnership from the pair of Shubman Gill and Sudharsan at this point. England, on the other hand, must be raring to pick wickets.

The players are walking into the ground. We are set to resume soon. This is a good sign from the cricketing point of view. India would not like it as the conditions are overcast again and it will provide swing to the England pacers.

The pitch has been put under cover again. There is light drizzle at the moment. It seems that the resumption time will be extended now. It was set to restart at 7:30 pm IST. As I type this, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan are getting ready to bat. The covers are coming off. It seems the rain has stopped. Will the match resume on time?

Shubman Gill has broken the record of Sunil Gavaskar of scoring most runs as an Indian captain in a Test series. Gill now has 737 runs to his credit in the ongoing five-match series against England. He has surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's previous record of 732 runs against West Indies during 1978-79 Test series.

History Made!@tatacapital proudly celebrates #TeamIndia skipper @ShubmanGill for his heroic feat of becoming the highest run-scoring Indian captain in a Test series!
P.S: He surpasses #SunilGavaskar who scored 732 runs against West Indies during 1978/79 series.... pic.twitter.com/pKWumCz1UI

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 31, 2025

If there is not further rain from this point, the match will resume at 7:30 pm IST. The match has already lost more than an hour due to rain. Lunch was taken around 8 minutes early due to rain and now the wet outfield is delaying the restart. 

Umpires Ahsan Raza and Kumar Dharmasena have started inspecting the conditions. The ground staff are in action. It seems that the play will not start soon as there is still a lot of water on the ground.

The super sopper has started doing its task. It seems that the umpires are not satisfied with the first inspection. We have a new inspection time. It is set to take place after 20 minutes from now, which is 7 pm IST.

The umpires are out there at the middle. They have started inspecting the conditions. There is no rain at the moment and the sky also looks blue. There is no clouds over the stadium. We shall get a start time soon.

The rain has completely stopped. The covers are being taken off slowly and gradually. The ground staff will clear the water from the ground. An inspection is set to take place at 6:30 pm IST. Stay connected for all the udpates.

It was a shared first session as England pick up two wickets but India too did a good job to not lose too many wickets despite the ball swinging superbly in the session. India's batting was tested in the phase as the overcast conditions made life tough for their batters.

Heavy rain has arrived at Kennington Oval, London. The players are running back. The ground staff are running with the big cover for the main square. Early Lunch has been taken on Day 1 due to that.

IND 72/2 (23)

That is a glorious drive from Sai Sudharsan down the ground for a four. It was bowled fuller from Chris Woakes while coming round the wicket and Sudharsan slammed it through the left side of the bowler for a four. Good batting!

IND 66/2 (21.3)

Shubman Gill smashed the final ball of the Jamie Overton over for a four on the off-side. The sun is shining over Kennington Oval and this in turn has made life a bit easier for the Indian duo of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan. India should capitalise on the conditions.

IND 62/2 (21)

Shubman Gill smashed a four on the off-side as India crossed the 50-run mark. It was a short of length ball outside the off-stump from Jamie Overton and Gill hit it quite comfortably for the boundary through the covers.

IND 52/2 (19)

A part of the ground has the sun getting out. These is a good sign for India as the more the sun shine comes on the ground, the lesser the ball will swing. Okay, as I type, the sun has got covered into the clouds again. This is not what India would have wanted.

Wow! This is such a beautiful drive from Sai Sudharsan. Josh Tongue bowled it fuller and Sudharsan drove it through the vacant mid-on region. The ball comfortably raced to the fence. This will give much-much confidence to Sudharsan, who is fighting really hard there. 

IND 44/2 (16.1)

Chris Woakes has provided England a crucial breakthrough here. KL Rahul, one of India's best batters against the swinging ball, is out for 14 off 40. It was a good length ball outside off-stump. Rahul wanted to cut it away. He got an inside edge on the ball and ended up chopping it on his stumps. India are in some real trouble here.

Gus Atkinson continues to trouble the Indian bowlers but this might be his last over in this spell. This is the 6th over that right-arm pacer is bowling on trot. Indian batters badly need a break from him as Atkinson has been the toughest England pacer to face so far.

This has been a really tough start for India. The ball is swinging beautifully and Gus Atkinson is making the most of it. He is firing on all cylinders. The pacer sent Yashasvi Jaiswal packing and has also threatened the duo of KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan.

IND 33/1 (10)

Another delivery down the leg side from Josh Tongue that runs away for a four. This is turning out to be an embarrassing over for the pacer. He is struggling with his front foot at the crease while delivering the ball.

IND 30/1 (8.4)

This is such a poor start for Josh Tongue. His foot slipped on the very first delivery and he ended up pitching is short on the leg side. The ball swung further and missed the wicketkeeper to run away for a four. Umpire also gave it a wide.

Ollie Pope DRS
pic.twitter.com/VyX4061MvH

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 31, 2025

Some really good pace and swing bowling here from Gus Atkinson. He is making the ball talk on the green surface and the overcast conditions are further helping his case here. These are testing times for KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal is GONE! What a review this is from England captain Ollie Pope. It was an inswinging delivery from Gus Atkinson that hit Jaiswal on the front foot. For a moment, it seemed there was bat-pad, but replays revealed that the ball clearly hit the pad first. Ball tracking revealed that it would have hit the leg stump. And look at Ben Stokes, in the dressing room, he is laughing over the final result. He is ecstatic.

IND 10/1 (3.1)

With Jofra Archer not playing this game, Chris Woakes is the man England has relied upon to lead the pace attack and provide an early breakthrough. He starts off with the ball. A couple of singles to begin with as both KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jasiwal get off the mark. A little bit of lateral movement is seen as Woakes looks to get the best out of the overcast conditions. 

IND 2/0 after 1 over

After another small rain delay, the match is set to begin at the scheduled time. National anthems are done, and we are waiting for the on-field action to begin. With overcast conditions, expect the ball to move early on. England's Chris Woakes can do some serious damage if India don't play him with caution.

Counting the Kennington Oval toss, India have now lost 15 tosses in a row. Even though England had a stand-in skipper, Ollie Pope, in front of Gill, it was the newcomer whose luck prevailed.

The probability of a team losing 15 tosses in a row is 0.00305%.

Just as we were done with the toss, covers are back on the field. This is going to be such a day where rain is going to play hide-and-seek with the game. Stay tuned for live updates!

Here's what the two captains said at the time of toss:

Shubman Gill: Don't mind losing the toss as long as we win the game. Was a bit confused yesterday about what to do, was a bit overcast but the wicket looks good, we'll look to post good runs in the first innings. Should be a good pitch for the bowlers. We've got three changes. Jurel, Karun and Prasidh in for Pant, Shardul and Bumrah. We look for a win every game we play, we've come close and it's about that 5-10% extra push, boys will be giving it their all.

Ollie Pope: We'll bowl. Bit overcast, no-brainer to have a bowl on this pitch. Lost the captain but the others are tracking nicely, we've got a few fresh faces as well. We bat deep, Gus Atkinson and Overton have got runs. We're not going to contend with 2:2, we want to go out there and win it.

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

India announce three changes for the 5th Test against England. 

- Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur and Rishabh Pant OUT

- Prasidh Krishna, Karun Nair and Dhruv Jurel IN

After a small delay due to rain, both captains are out. England stand-in captain Ollie Pope has won the toss and opted to field first. 

First weather hurdle of the day as rain delays toss at the Oval. There remains quite a bit of a suspense over India's playing XI selection. But, for now, we'll have to wait for some time before finding out what team are India playing. 

Rain this morning, overcast conditions with 8mm of grass on the pitch, as per Nasser Hussain in the pitch report. The former England captain says that the captain winning the toss should opt to bowl. Not playing a frontline spinner is also quite likely, as has been the case in many County Cricket games on such surfaces, as per Nasser Hussain.

No cover on the pitch for now! Plenty of movement down there with both sets of players doing their routine pre-match warmups. Looking at the team huddle, Arshdeep is unlikely to get his debut today as Prasidh Krishna has been given the nod. Arshdeep's addition would've been something different.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir said at the start of the tour that the series is an opportunity for the team to do something special, as the three most experienced players from the group - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin - had retired. The result at the Oval will decide if India have managed to do anything special or not!

4 Tests
Time for One Final Push in the series finale
;#TeamIndia | #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/pj8a7AXb8N

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 31, 2025

As per Accuweather, a total of 4 hours of rain is expected in London today. The probability of precipitation stands at 86% while thunderstorms are also likely. With India looking to make it 2-2 in the 5-match series, the weather conditions could prove to be a big hurdle. 

Covers coming off at the moment after a few showers this morning at the Oval. The conditions, however, are overcast and gloomy. The captain winning the toss is almost certain to bowl first. 

Mixed forecast for the day at the Oval.
But currently dry & covers coming off.
We’ll be on air whatever the weather from 1025. #bbccricket #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/lJv0Y1Lp1K

— Adam Mountford (@tmsproducer) July 31, 2025

With Karun Nair rumoured to be making his return to the team for the 5th Test, Shardul Thakur is likely to be the man who will be sacrificed. But, there will also be a focus on Arshdeep Singh who is fit again but it isn't known if will be a part of the playing XI at the Oval. India skipper Shubman Gill had said that Arshdeep was told 'to be ready', but he does face competition from Prasidh Krishna for a spot in the pace bowling unit. 

India's likely playing XI, 5th Test: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Karun Nair, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna/Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the opening day of the 5th and final Test between India and England at the Kennington Oval. As the two teams wait for the match to begin on Thursday, overcast conditions, rain and even thunderstorms are expected to challenge the battle between the bat and the ball in the middle. Expect a few showers on Day 1, as well as the Day 2, as the two teams look to settle the fate of the 5-match series.