Karun Nair Hits First Fifty in 9 Years as India Ends Day 1 at 206/6 in Rain-Hit Final Test Against England
Karun Nair scored his first fifty of the series and was instrumental in leading India to 206/6 by stumps and maintaining the innings during a challenging time.
Aadrika Tayal 
New Delhi (India) August 1: India scores 206 runs for 6 wickets against England on the first day of the match. This is the last test of the five-match series. It was a rain-shortened opening day at The Oval.
Rain Hampers Play
There was sufficient ball movement for bowlers. The pitch was making it difficult for batsmen to score runs. There were only 64 overs played because of numerous rain delays.
Team Changes for the last Test
England made four changes. They won the toss and wasted no time in choosing to bowl first in favorable circumstances. Ollie Pope is serving as stand-in captain in place of Ben Stokes due to injury.
For the last Test, India made four changes to their playing XI. Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh did not get a place in the team. In India's XI, Karun Nair, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and Dhruv Jurel took the places of Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur and Anshul Kamboj.
England’s Bowling Strikes Early
Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson gives England a great start. Woakes takes the wicket of KL Rahul. He got out after scoring 14 runs. Atkinson took the wicket of Jaiswal in the game early. India never really bounced back from those initial shocks. Despite appearing to be in excellent form, Shubman Gill was run out on 21. It happens after Atkinson's superb direct hit and a poorly placed single.
Despite Sai Sudharsan's best efforts, Tongue's sharp delivery beat him as he edged to Jamie Smith. Jurel and Jadeja also fell quickly after each other. This put India in trouble at 153 for 6. Karun Nair, who was dropped for the fourth Test, however, stood his ground. After 3,148 days, he achieved his first fifty-plus score in Test cricket. He scored his well-composed half-century off 89 balls.
Woakes Injures Shoulder
Woakes injured his shoulder diving to stop a boundary. He left the field after a brief scare. Bowlers were kept excited by the pitch's help throughout the match. There is still a possibility of continued cloud cover. England wants to finish with a home win, while India needs to win to tie the series at two.
England Playing XI include Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue.
India's Playing XI include Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Karun Nair, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj.
