Hammered in the third and fourth Test, a demoralised Indian side looks forward to fight back and square the series at The Oval. Abhijit Banare looks at India’s record at the venue.
Though India have lost thrice to England at this venue, this is the same ground where they registered the historic victory in 1971 to clinch their maiden series win in England. There are various moments that stand out in the 11 encounters between the two teams. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar’s six-for in ’71, Anil Kumble’s only century, Rahul Dravid’s double century and others. On the other hand, England will have fond memories of the last encounter where Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell beat India in to submission. The match resulted in England setting a few individual records at this venue. Finally not to forget the agonising loss in 1979 where Suni Gavaskar led with a double ton and India had to settle for a draw falling nine runs short. Here are some key numbers. Read the Preview of India vs England 5th Test here
Win toss bat first? In all the 11 encounters between the two teams here, every single time the team winning the toss has elected to bat. It does give an idea that the pitch is conducive for the batsmen. Below is the record of the teams winning the toss.
Toss
Year
England, Bat
1936
India, Bat
1946
England, Bat
1952
India, Bat
1959
England, Bat
1971
England, Bat
1979
England, Bat
1982
India, Bat
1990
England, Bat
2002
India, Bat
2007
England, Bat
2011
Results: Below is the results of and the eventual series result in the 11 matches between India and England at The Oval.
No
Date
Result
Margin
Series
1
15-Aug-36
Lost
9 wickets
England 2-1
2
17-Aug-46
Draw
England 1-0
3
14-Aug-52
Draw
England 3-0
4
20-Aug-59
Lost
Inns and 27 runs
England 5-0
5
19-Aug-71
Won
4 wickets
India 1-0
6
30-Aug-79
Draw
England 1-0
7
8-Jul-82
Draw
England 1-0
8
23-Aug-90
Draw
England 1-0
9
15-Sep-02
Draw
Draw 1-1
10
2-Aug-07
Draw
India 1-0
11
18-Aug-11
Lost
Inns and 8 runs
England 4-0
Highest totals: India piled on runs in 2007 and 1990. The former is the match where Kumble scored his ton.
India
England
Runs
Year
Runs
Year
664
2007
594
1982
609/9 decl.
1990
591/6 decl.
2011
508
2002
515
2002
429/8
1979
477/4 decl.
1990
410
1982
369/6
1936
Lowest totals: Quite predictably, the 1959 match features twice as India went down by an innings.
India
England
Runs
Year
Runs
Year
98
1952
101
1971
140
1959
194
1959
Centurions for the two teams at The Oval: Perhaps Amit Mishra would’ve fancied making to this list as he fell 16 runs short batting at No 5. Sachin Tendulkar got closer in the same 2011 match where he was dismissed by Tim Bresnan for 91. Kumble scored his only ton at this venue. Interestingly, he was the only Indian to score a ton in the entire 2007 series.
India
England
Batsman
R
Year
Batsman
R
Year
Sunil Gavaskar
221
1979
Ian Bell
235
2011
Rahul Dravid
217
2002
Wally Hammond
217
1936
Ravi Shastri
187
1990
Ian Botham
208
1982
Rahul Dravid
146*
2011
Michael Vaughan
195
2002
Vijay Mercant
128
1946
Kevin Pietersen
175
2011
Anil Kumble
110*
2007
David Gower
157*
1990
Kapil Dev
110
1990
Stan Worthington
128
1936
Geoffrey Boycott
125
1979
David Sheppard
119
1952
Allan Lamb
107
1982
Kevin Pietersen
101
2007
Five-for at The Oval: Gubby Allen has the best bowling figures with a seven-wicket haul in 1936. For India, Harbhajan Singh picked a five-wicket haul in the draw in 2002 but Chandrasekhar’s six for 138 will remain the most memorable bowling performance. It is the best performance by an Indian spinner in England.
India
Figures
Year
England
Figures
Year
Mohammad Nissar
5/120
1936
Jim Sims
5/73
1936
Surendranath
5/75
1959
Gubby Allen
7/80
1936
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar
6/138
1971
Alec Bedser
5/41
1952
Harbhajan Singh
5/115
2002
Fred Trueman
5/48
1952
Ray Illingworth
5/70
1971
Graeme Swann
6/106
2011
Partnerships: England too rule the records in terms of partnerships between the two teams at The Oval. Once again in 2011, Pietersen and Bell put on a mammoth 350-run stand, the first 300+ stand between the two teams at The Oval.
(Abhijit Banareis a reporter at CricketCountry. He is an avid quizzer and loves to analyse and dig out interesting facts which allows him to learn something new every day. Apart from cricket he also likes to keep a sharp eye on Indian politics, and can be followed on Twitter and blog)
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