Ben’s attacking 149 helps England chase down 371-run target to hand visitors a five-wicket defeat in opener
An ecstatic Ben Duckett celebrates his century against India at Headingley, Leeds, yesterday. Pics/Getty Images
It’s not often that a team fancies its chances of chasing down 371 in the fourth innings, or 350 on the final day, of a Test. But such is England’s faith in the strength and depth of their aggressive batsmanship that they sincerely believed they could get the job done at Headingley on Tuesday as Ben Stokes’s men won the first Test by five wickets to take 1-0 lead.
They were, however, wary of the quality Jasprit Bumrah possesses. The world’s best bowler had provided a sneak preview of the damage he can wreak with a five-for in the first innings of the first Test, and when Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett resumed on 21 for no loss, their first objective was to deny Bumrah early success.
No early breakthrough
Nothing energises Bumrah, like all bowlers, more than drawing blood straightaway. As the tall Crawley and the much shorter Duckett neutralised his threat through tight defence and greater adventurism respectively, the pendulum swung slowly but almost decisively England’s way.
The steep target meant India would always be in the game till things got out of hand, but as well as Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj bowled, there was no joy for more than three hours. The normally aggressive Crawley chose prudence over bravado but the left-handed Duckett was unstoppable, unleashing a flurry of boundaries.
India bowled well in patches but couldn’t string together pressure-building deliveries with any consistency, ensuring that England’s rate of scoring remained healthy despite no obvious effort to press the foot on the accelerator. To make matters worse, India were again shoddy with their catching. Bumrah put down a very difficult return chance, low to his left, with Crawley on 42 while Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had shelled two catches in the first innings, dropped Duckett off the luckless Siraj with the batter three short of his sixth century.
Shardul strikes twice
Duckett, who reverse-swept Ravindra Jadeja to distraction, went from strength to strength despite Prasidh Krishna producing a fiery spell in which he accounted for Crawley (after an opening alliance of 188 and first-innings centurion Ollie Pope. Then, the sparingly used Shardul Thakur revived India’s interest when, with 118 still needed, he had Duckett caught in the covers for a sparkling 149 and Harry Brook snaffled superbly down the leg-side by a sprawling Rishabh Pant first ball.
Around two brief interruptions for rain, the excitement mounted. It seemed primed for a final Bumrah flourish but local lad Joe Root, and Stokes ensured England won it.
Brief scores
India 471 & 364 lost to England 465 & 373-5 (B Duckett 149, Z Crawley 65, J Root 53*, J Smith 44*, B Stokes 33; S Thakur 2-51, P Krishna 2-92) by five wickets
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