For much of the 56 minutes it took for India to claim the final four England wickets on the fifth day at the Oval the action seemed to transcend sport. The atmosphere created by a capacity, 25,000-strong crowd ranged from delirium to deathly silence, in a matter of seconds.
England began the day requiring 35 runs to win with four wickets remaining, one of them belonging to all-rounder Chris Woakes whose dislocated left shoulder was immobilised in a sling. He would bat, we were told, using just his right hand. He was still deciding whether he would adopt a right-handed or left-handed stance.
Play began under thunder grey skies with a light drizzle in the air. The first two balls of the day were pulled and inside-edged to the boundary. The heroic Mohammed Siraj, who played in all five Tests bowling more overs and claiming more wickets than anyone else, had the last recognised batsman, wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, caught behind with 27 required.
Siraj and his young understudy, Prasidh Krishna, struck twice more with the floodlights brightening the gloom but not England’s mood or nerves. The crowd fell silent again until Woakes belatedly appeared at the top of the pavilion steps, arm strapped to his chest beneath a sleeveless sweater. Seventeen runs were still required.
Fast bowler Gus Atkinson slog-swept Siraj for a six over long-on to reduce the target to 11. Indian captain Shubman Gill, who scored four centuries and more than 700 runs in the series, now faced a potentially series-deciding decision. Keep fielders on the boundary to dissuade Atkinson from trying to hit another four or six, or bring the field in to deny him a single and bowl at the crippled Woakes.
He opted to protect the boundary and Atkinson refused the singles to protect his one-armed partner. Siraj found the perfect yorker to finish the match and clinch India’s narrowest victory yet, by just six runs.
Five Test matches all stretching to the fifth day, 25 days and 73 sessions of cricket and it came down to six runs. A scoreline of 2-2 was an accurate reflection of the competition and the similarity in standard between the teams. For all England’s feigned disinterest in the World Test Championship, they really do want to qualify for a final. So do India. The added extra “edge” made a dramatic finale all the keener.
Temba Bavuma’s return home to Langa with the International Cricket Council Mace was a triumph, with thousands of people able to see the rewards of hard work in the game’s greatest format. As the captain said, they had another year and half to enjoy being world Test champions but one win did not create a legacy. Like the Springboks, they want to become multiple winners.
That campaign will begin with extremely challenging away series (if two Tests can still be called a “series”) to Pakistan and India in October and late November but for, now, the Proteas’ focus is firmly on white-ball cricket with three ODIs and three T20 Internationals against Australia in August and England in September.
International cricket returns to Australia’s Northern Territory for the first time in 17 years in five days when the first two T20Is will be staged in Darwin before the series moves to Cairns and Mackay, within visiting distance of the Great Barrier Reef. It will be an opportunity not just to fight for places in the T20 World Cup squad but to see parts of the world the players may not otherwise have the chance to visit.
It may be a timely reminder, too, that whenever cricket does start to transcend its status as a game and entertainment, often involving the Indian team, it isn’t. It is very important at the time and provides a welcome break from the grind of real life for the majority who watch it, but it is, after all, a competition between bat and ball.
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