In the 2nd day of the fifth and final test overall at The Oval, the Indian bowler Akash Deep made his mark by breaking the strong opening partnership of England to knock over the fearsome Ben Duckett. India made a poor beginning to the second day which started with their last four wickets being taken to reach a total of just six runs to reach 218/6 to 224 all out. Gus Atkinson top scored with the ball, taking 5 for 33 as the English attack piled on the pressure and Josh Tongue got Karun Nair and helped take out the tail.
England openers Zak Crawley and Duckett responded to this by playing a counter-attacking innings. The two batsmen had put together an opening partnership that is worth of 92 off only 12.5 overs and averaging almost seven a wicket. Duckett seemed to be at his most aggressive and he relaxed towards finding limits.
However, Deep discovered the breakthrough. In the 13th over, he delivered a full delivery on off-stump, which Duckett attempted to reverse-scoop and got an edge that went straight to keeper Dhruv Jurel. Deep responded with an enthusiastic celebration, pumping his fist right in front of Duckett, before walking up and placing his arm around the southpaw’s shoulder and exchanging a few words.
KL Rahul pulled Akash back to prevent an escalation. The umpire, Ahsan Raza, spoke briefly with the bowler following the incident. Meanwhile, Duckett returned after scoring 43 off 38 balls, including five boundaries and two sixes.
Check out the video below:
you're appreciating his action!! truly and honesty, it wasn't needed from Akashdeep, whatever he has done, putting hands on Ben's shoulders and mocking him, done wrong, unethical, and might be handed a demerit point for this pic.twitter.com/GuQlsJfp06
— Serenade (@alqamadotml) August 1, 2025
The home team dominated the first session of Day 2, not just cleaning up India’s tail but also getting off to a strong start with the bat. By lunchtime, England’s scorecard read 109/1, with Crawley and Ollie Pope at the crease as the side trailed by 115 runs.
