Akash Deep scored his first Test half-century on the third day of the fifth Test between England and India at the Oval in London on Saturday.
Coming in as a nightwatchman late on the second day after Sai Sudharsan’s dismissal, Akash ensured India avoided further damage. He began the third day positively, hitting left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell for a boundary in the very first over. Showing confidence and composure, he frustrated the England attack alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal in the opening hour.
Akash reached his milestone off 70 balls, cutting Gus Atkinson for a boundary in the 38th over of India’s second innings. In fact, his last three scoring shots before the fifty were all fours. He handled the short-ball tactics well, pulling Atkinson to the midwicket fence and using the cut and uppercut effectively. On 47, he got a touch of luck, edging a fuller delivery for four to bring up his half-century.
His innings had its share of fortune. He survived an lbw review, which came back as ‘umpire’s call’, and was dropped by Zak Crawley in the slips on 21. Eventually, he fell for 66 off 94 balls just before lunch, when Jamie Overton’s short ball forced a leading edge to Atkinson at backward point.
Before this, Akash had only one First-Class half-century to his name — a rapid 18-ball fifty for Bengal against Jharkhand in the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy quarterfinal. This effort at the Oval, however, was built with patience and skill, marking an important milestone in his cricket journey.