ENG vs IND | Twitter in splits as Atkinson 'looks London' when ball's 'in Paris' but avoids disaster

Gantavya Adukia

ByGantavya Adukia,SportsCafe Editor

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Gus Atkinson's batting chops were severely tested by India on Day 5 at The Oval

Tragedies often have an inherent element of comedy in them, given both thrive in the occurrence of the unexpected. England were headed towards a disaster of their own at The Oval on Day 5, one that Gus Atkinson could have seriously quickened albeit by offering some priceless comic material.

The final day of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy was slated to be iconic the moment time was called on Day 4, with England requiring 35 runs to win their first series against India in eight years while the visitors remained four wickets away from levelling the series 2-2. The match only got more dramatic when two early wickets left the visitors right on the brink of victory, even as Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue tried to flip the script with some resolute batting down the order. However, the duo unsurprisingly never looked entirely sure of their game plan, the resultant chaos from which nearly resulted in a comedic gem that would have been played on loop for years to come.

On the fourth ball of the 83rd over, Atkinson was served a sharo surprise bumper by Prasidh Krishna and tried to hook it away instinctively but the red cherry took a leading edge and dribbled away towards mid-on. Before Atkinson could come to terms with the ball's nastiness, Tongue at the other end called for a run and his partner decided to place blind trust. Hilarious scenes ensued as Atkinson kept his eyes fixated towards the square leg region, hoping to find the ball that was nebver there even as his legs kept taking him closer to the non-striker's end. Imagine his shock when halfway down the track, Atkinson turned his gaze towards mid-on and finally spotted a charging Mohammed Siraj collecting the ball to fire in a ferocious throw.

Much to the Englishmen's fortune, Siraj missed his target to let the batters get away scot-free but Twitterati was entertained all the same.

Sam here

Good bowling

Drop

Need 8

Yup

Superb

At its best

Miyan Magic

Atkinson on strike

Bye

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