LONDON (AP) — Yashasvi Jaiswal loves playing against England's cricketers.
India's 23-year-old opening batter struck his fourth test century against England, and his sixth overall, to put the visitors firmly in control on Day 3 of the fifth and final test at the Oval on Saturday.
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England's Gus Atkinson celebrates the dismissal of India's captain Shubman Gill during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates after scoring a century during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Akash Deep plays a shot during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Akash Deep plays a shot during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Akash Deep celebrates after scoring fifty runs during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Jaiswal had his fair share of luck, though, as he gave his side an excellent chance of tying the series 2-2.
He was dropped three times on his way to 118, his second hundred of the series, as he helped India pile up 396 in its second innings to set England a daunting victory target of 374.
England, which has developed a knack for chasing down sizeable fourth-innings totals since Brendon McCullum took over as head coach in 2022 to launch the so-called ‘Bazball’ era, reached stumps on 50-1.
Mohammed Siraj clean bowled Zak Crawley for 14 with a searing yorker from the last ball of the day, leaving Ben Duckett on 34 not out at the other end.
Earlier, the left-handed Jaiswal turned his 127th ball of the innings to point and was celebrating his hundred before he ran the single he needed; leaping, running and shaping his fingers into a heart.
“I had to work really hard in my practice session,” Jaiswal said. “I was thinking, ‘one last push.' I think overall, wherever you play, it is difficult in England. It is not easy on this wicket. We are really confident. We will try our best and see what happens.”
There were also important contributions for India from Akash Deep, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.
Nightwatchman Akash Deep cut loose for a career-best 66 in a 107-run stand with Jaiswal for the third wicket. Jadeja continued his excellent batting form in the series with 53 and Sundar delivered a swashbuckling 53 off 46 balls at the end of the innings that included four sixes.
India captain Shubman Gill only made 11 but he finished with a tally of 754 runs, passing Graham Gooch's 752 in 1990 for the most by any batter in an India-England series.
England did its best to help out India in the field, dropping six catches in all, the team's most in a home test since 2006 when it spilled six against Pakistan, also at the Oval.
The home side's depleted pace attack toiled hard all day in the absence of the experienced Chris Woakes, who sustained a bad shoulder injury on Day 1.
Josh Tongue was the pick of the England attack with 5-125, while fellow fast bowler Gus Atkinson took 3-127 to follow up his five-wicket haul from the first innings.
“It will be a great day of cricket tomorrow, and a great day for us if we get the runs.” Tongue said. “The batting line-up we have is unbelievable. If we can build partnerships, who knows where we might be? Fingers crossed I am not required, but if it comes down to me at the end I will give it a good crack.”
England, which leads the series 2-1, chased down 371 to beat India in the first test at Leeds.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
England's Gus Atkinson celebrates the dismissal of India's captain Shubman Gill during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates after scoring a century during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Akash Deep plays a shot during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Akash Deep plays a shot during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
India's Akash Deep celebrates after scoring fifty runs during the third day of the fifth cricket test match between England and India at The Kia Oval in London, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado discussed her country's future with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, even though he has dismissed her credibility to take over after an audacious U.S. military raid captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela and signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s No. 2. Along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations and was set to deliver her first state of the union speech Thursday.
In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She also had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been looking forward to the lunchtime meeting with Machado and called her “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela. But Leavitt also said Trump's opinion of Machado had not changed, calling it "a realistic assessment."
Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.
Leavitt went on to say that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.
Leavitt said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.
“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”
Machado spent about two and a half hours at the White House but left without answering questions on whether she'd offered to give her Nobel prize to Trump, saying only “gracias."
After her White House stop, Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate. Her Washington visit began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela.
It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
Leavitt said Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and that Rodríguez's government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.
Rodríguez has adopted a less strident position toward Trump then she did immediately after Maduro's ouster, suggesting that she can make the Republican administration's “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, work for Venezuela — at least for now.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”
Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.”
Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize. She has since thanked Trump, though her offer to share the honor with him was rejected by the Nobel Institute.
Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.
Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gestures to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado smiles on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
