Rain Disrupts Fifth Test: India vs England at The Oval

Weather Woes Delay Second Session

London: The commencement of the second session on the first day of the fifth Test match between India and England has been postponed due to rain at The Oval on Thursday.

Umpires are scheduled to assess the pitch conditions at 7 PM IST.

An early lunch was declared because of the rain, which saw England making significant inroads, reducing India to 72 for 2 during the initial session.

Under the captaincy of Ollie Pope, the English team made an early impact, dismissing opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for just 2 runs, as he was trapped LBW by pacer Gus Atkinson.

Pace bowler Chris Woakes further dented India's innings by taking out KL Rahul's stumps, leaving India at 38 for 2, with Rahul scoring 14 runs off 40 balls.

Sai Sudharsan and captain Shubman Gill managed to stabilize the innings on a gloomy day, contributing an unbeaten 25 and 15 runs respectively.

They formed a solid partnership of 34 runs for the third wicket before heavy rain arrived just minutes before lunch, forcing the players to retreat to the dressing room.