Gus Atkinson shines on his Test return, bags a five-fer to derail India on day two of the Oval Test

Gus Atkinson’s hostile pace of bowling left India gasping for breath. India turned up on day two and started off proceedings on a promising score of 204-6. But an unprecedented burst from Atkinson, followed by his partner in crime, Josh Tongue, saw India capitulate well inside the first hour of the day’s play. Atkinson emerged as the standout performer, finishing as the most successful bowler for England with exemplary figures of 5-33.

On a surface that offered swing and variable bounce at times, Atkinson proved way too good for the Indian lower-order batters. The 27-year-old got the ball rolling by dismissing Washington Sundar off a well-directed short bumper. Atkinson dug in short and invited Sundar to go over the top. Sundar couldn’t resist his temptation and tried to take on the short ball in a bid to accumulate some quick runs. But unfortunately for him, the ploy backfired as he couldn’t keep the ball down and handed a regulation catch to Overton at deep square leg. This was also his first scalp of the day, too.

Besides, he did not allow the tailenders to linger around either. His next two wickets came in quick succession. Atkinson made Siraj play down the wrong line and deceived him with an unplayable inswinger to peg his off-stump back. A couple of balls later, Prasidh Krishna followed suit as he chased an outswinging delivery, which subsequently resulted in a faint outside edge. He was assisted by Tongue, who also maintained pressure from the other end and kept the Indian at bay with formidable figures of 3-57.

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WATCH: Atkinson puts on a show with a five-fer

Atkinson has made a resounding return to this format since his last appearance against Zimbabwe in May. Though he was amongst the wickets in that match, he didn’t quite have the same venom as he did in this game. Quite noticeably, his pace also erred on the slower side in that one-off test series against Zimbabwe.

The English quicks have completed a swift demolition job in the early hours of day two of the fifth test. As a result, India could only add 20-odd runs to their overnight score of 204. England’s response with the bat has been ferocious to say the least. At the time of writing, England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett have made life quite difficult for the Indian bowlers, plundering a breezy 59 inside seven overs without losing a single wicket.