On the second day of the fifth Test against England on Friday (August 1) at the Kennington Oval in London, Team India reached 75 for two at stumps. They lead by 52 runs with three days remaining in the contest.
Karun Nair and Washington Sundar began the day for the visiting team with an overnight score of 204/6. English pacers Gus Atkinson (5/33) and Josh Tongue (3/57) bowled well in the morning session and soon dismissed India for 224 following the restart.
Zak Crawley (64) and Ben Duckett (43) then put up a 92-run opening partnership in just 12.5 overs, giving England a flying start. Akash Deep ended the menacing stand by removing Duckett in the 13th over, delivering Team India a much-needed breakthrough.
Mohammed Siraj (4/86) and Prasidh Krishna (4/62) then bowled outstanding spells with a relatively old ball, limiting England to 247 in their first innings. Harry Brook (53) scored an aggressive half-century in the middle order for the home team.
Yashasvi Jaiswal also played a fast and composed innings in which he scored 51* in 49 balls taking India out of the deficit of 23 runs to take the lead. Akash Deep was also unbeaten on 4 runs and kept him company till the end of the day. India ended the 2nd day at 75/2 with a lead of 52 runs.
Fans were captivated by the excitement that transpired on the second day of the Oval Test. They expressed their feelings by posting humorous memes on X and Instagram. Below are some of the best memes:
“Why Siraj Why ?” a fan wrote.
When you get rested on the best bowling pitch of the series pic.twitter.com/vT7obPLvxN
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) August 1, 2025Jasprit Bumrah watching #INDvsENG oval test pic.twitter.com/RyeHEzaon5
— Rajabets 🇮🇳👑 (@rajabetsindia) August 1, 2025— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) August 1, 2025 Sachin Paaji watching Siraj dismiss Root early. pic.twitter.com/qI5l4y4tH6
— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) August 1, 2025Mohammed Siraj when Bumrah is not playing pic.twitter.com/H6vfyNzIGe
— Shiv (@mr_Tubun) August 1, 2025Indian bowling lineup when Bumrah isn't playing – pic.twitter.com/iEf6Sy03io
— Dinda Academy (@academy_dinda) August 1, 2025— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) August 1, 2025 Prasidh Krishna Highlights Trust and Honesty in Team Culture After Day 2
At the end of day 2 of fifth Test between India and England, Indian fast bowler, Prasidh Krishna described how the team reacted when England showed enthusiasm with their aggressive batting line on their first innings. He said that the bowlers took a little time to find their rhythm, but at lunchtime we had an open talk and rectified the strategy and aimed at making the plans work better. Prasidh reported that such open communication allowed them to recover a shaky start.
“As a team, we knew what happened before lunch. The three fast bowlers, we got together in a small corner and said, what’s happened has happened. All of us know what we need to be doing. We trust each other and tell one another if someone is not on the right track. We spoke about the same thing.”
Prasidh Krishna
On his on-field exchange with Joe Root, Krishna added:
“That was the plan. But I didn’t expect the couple of words that I said to get such a big reaction from him. But, I love the guy that he is. He is a legend of the game and it great when two people are out there wanting to do their best.”
Prasidh Krishna
