England vs India 2018, 5th Test: Pitch report

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Kohli and Root both would like to win this Test

Fifth Test match between India and England will be played at Kennington Oval, formerly known as The Oval. Though it's a dead rubber, both teams are expected to play with full intensity. India would like to end the tour on a high note whereas England would look to give Alistair Cook a winning farewell.

Conditions at the Kennington Oval are expected to be intermittently cloudy during the five days of the Test match, which should aid the fast bowling. Temperature is expected to be in the early 20's, which augurs for an even contest between bat and ball.

Looking at the recent history of this ground, England have elected to bat first on this ground during the last three Tests they have played here. Unless rain is around the corner on the first day, England is expected to bat first again.

India might also want to bat first as they have lost two Test matches while chasing in the fourth innings and they would like to put up a decent score on the board in the first innings to put fragile English batting under pressure.

Last three Test matches played here along with the recently concluded county match between Surrey and Nottinghamshire suggest that the team which puts up a big total in the first innings is expected to call the shots in the match. England lost two of the three Test matches mentioned above to Pakistan and Australia while winning the third won against South Africa last year.

Wicket is expected to help spinners during the latter part of the match. India's nemesis Moeen Ali took 4 wickets against South Africa in the fourth innings of the match played last year. Also, Pakistani spinner Yasir Shah took 5 wickets in the third innings of the Test played here in 2016. Looking at this, India would like to avoid batting last on this wicket.

The recent history of this ground tells us that big first innings would be the key here. In the County match played here during the last week, Surrey scored 375 while batting first and they won the match by an innings and 125 runs.

This Test might also turn out to be a battle of attrition, whichever team bats less badly, might take the cake.

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