Harry Brook had thought England would win the Oval Test but it wasn’t the case as India wrapped up a six-run victory in the last game of the game as the series ended up as 2-2.
In what appeared to be a game-changing fourth-wicket stand with Joe Root on Sunday, Brook hit an incredible 111 off 95 balls, pushing England to 301 for 3 in chase of 374. However, he was dismissed as the first domino to fall in a collapse of 7 for 66 after misfiring to mid-off while charging down and attempting to hit Akash Deep over extra cover for a third consecutive boundary.
“My thought process was just to try and hit as many runs as quickly as possible,” Brook said at the post-match presentation. “Like I said, the game’s done if we need 40 runs with me and Rooty in there; if I get out there [with 40 to win], the game’s still done. Obviously, it didn’t work. Hindsight is a beautiful thing, and obviously, I wish now that I didn’t play that shot and get out.”
He told the BBC’s Test Match Special: “At the time, I was obviously very confident. If I’d have got a quick 30 off the next two overs, then the game is done. That was my thought process. I always try to take the game on and put them under immense pressure… I wish I was there at the end, but you can’t write them things.
“I had no idea that we were going to lose seven wickets for 60 runs. You’ve got arguably the best Test cricketer in the world out there at the time as well in Rooty, and in the back of my mind, [I thought] I’d try and get as many runs as quickly as possible and the game is done. I had every faith in Rooty that he was going to be there at the end.”
But while Brook said he regretted his shot, Ben Stokes sprung to his player’s defence and highlighted the wider value of his attacking approach.
“Harry got us into that position by playing a particular way, putting the Indian bowlers under immense pressure to take them away from being able to consistently bowl the areas that they wanted to bowl in,” he said.
“I’m sure everyone was applauding him when he brought up his hundred in the way that he did. Some of the shots he played were unbelievable. The dismissal and the way that he got out was a shot that we’d seen a lot of him do in that innings, which I’m sure was getting a lot of praise.”
Early in his innings, Brook had a life when he caught Mohammed Siraj at long leg on 19 but the fielder stepped on the advertising cushion on the boundary rope as he steadied himself.
“I thought the match was gone,” Siraj later said. “Had we got Harry Brook out before lunch, things would have been different. There would have been no fifth day.”
They were unquestionably the favorites as long as Root was at the bat, but late in the fourth day, when trying to block an outswinger from Prasidh Krishna for a single, he was caught behind for 105 before the rain came. Even with four wickets remaining and 35 runs needed, Brook expressed confidence that Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton would lead England to victory.
“I came into the day this morning very confident,” he said. “We had two very good players out there at the time, and I just thought we were going to easily see it home. The way that the Indians fought back there and the way that Siraj bowled especially, I think he deserved every success there.
“We were thinking the bowlers would stiffen up a bit [overnight] and the pitch would be a little bit flatter, but obviously with the overcast conditions – lights on again – it started to zip around a bit. Like I said before, Siraj, he’s played five Test matches in a row, bowled 85mph-plus every ball, and he’s had a phenomenal series. I respect him a lot for what he’s done this series.”
Brook was nominated as England’s Player of the Series by India’s coach Gautam Gambhir after scoring 481 runs at 53.44 in nine innings, including hundreds at Edgbaston and The Oval and 99 at Headingley. “I’ve played all right,” he said. “I could have won that game yesterday, which is devastating, but I’m just happy to contribute to as many games [as I can].”
