Leeds: An excellent century of Ben Duckett helped direct England to a sensational victory of five Wickt in the first test against India after an exciting day five on Tuesday, the hosts reach a goal of 371, the tenth highest persecution in the history of the test.
Having returned the game on his head in Headingley after India had been 430-3 in his first tickets, England seemed to be sailing for a dramatic victory when the Duckett and Zak Crawley openers raised their side to lunch at 117-0 in their second entries.
Duckett continued its imperative form with four others through the covers to reach its sixth hundred test, before Crawley fell for 65 years, its association of 188 races in the second highest part of England, the first entrances of the fourth interview.
Two wickts in two balls, Duckett and Harry Brook, dragged India again to the fascinating contest and when Ben Stokes fell by 33 trying an ambitious reverse sweep, the hopes of Victoria from England lay precariously in balance.
Joe Root’s undefeated, calmed his nerves around his native land, with former employer and Jamie Smith, who arrived at six to seal the victory, seeing England his house as India, after having scored five centuries in the game, somehow he managed to begin the series of five tests in defeat.
“Incredible, what trial game. It was a lot of races and we were lucky with the weather,” Duckett said. “I am lost by words.
“We only had to look at the score to know that if we beat the overs, we would win the game. There were times when I thought about going into another march, but the breaks in the game helped us keep calm.
“Starting this series with a 1-0 victory is huge for us. He felt calm in the locker room. Having roots, it’s quite easy to be calm.” Resuming on day five in 21-0, unusually for a team famous for their ultra aggressive batting, Crawley and Duckett took 99 balls to bring their 50 associations, more time that the couple has taken to do it for England, before increasing the sorrow.
There was a slight concern for England when the centurion of the first tickets, Ollie Pope, quickly followed Crawley back to the pavilion in the middle of the afternoon session, number three became the next victim of Prasidh Krishna in consecutive overs.
Duckett continued to accumulate races quickly, however, before trying a great shot too much to fall against Shardul Thakur by 149, the second score of the fourth entrance of the second test of an English opener.
Duckett’s contribution, in such an pressurized situation, cannot be underestimated: 15 years have passed since an England opener obtained the last time he obtained a quarter of tickets: Alastair Cook in Mirpur in 2010.
The nerves got around the ground when Brook left for a golden duck, two in two balls for Thakur, with more scares that are coming when England seemed nervous.
Stokes remained his head along the road that fell to Ravindra Jadeja shortly after tea, but root and Smith dug, stopped offering opportunities and obtained the required races, with Smith rounding a remarkable style victory.
Many fallen catches and two batting collapses finally cost India. Of 430-3 in the first tickets, they lost their last seven Wickts for only 41 races, with the cool faded again in the second tickets, 31 accumulated races for the fall of the last six WICKETS.
It is the first time in the story that a team has achieved five centuries in a test and did not come out victorious, but also the first time in those five centuries has joined six batters who fell in love with the three ducks in each entry, in the same game.
“We had our possibilities,” said Indian captain Shubman Gill. “Some fallen captures and the lower order do not contribute as much as we would like (it cost us), but I am proud. Our young team is learning.
“It simply did not go on our way in this game. We have to rectify (the batting collapses) in the next matches.”
For England, at the beginning of a crucial period with the ashes that arrived at the end of this year, its summer could not have had a more promising beginning, with its aggressive approach, even if it has been attenuated and refined, achieving its second highest persecution in its test history.
MARKER
India (1st entry) 471 (S. Gill 147, R. Pant 134, Y. Jaiswal 101; B. Stokes 4-66, J. Tongue 4-86)
England (1st entrance) 465 (O. Pope 106, H. Brook 99; J. Bumrah 5-83)
India (2nd entry) 364 (KL Rahul 137, R. Pant 118; B. CSAR 3-80, 3-72)
England (second entrance, during the night 21-0):
Z. Crawley C Rahul B Krishna 65
B. Duckett C (Sub) B Thakur 149
O. Pope B Krishna 8
J. Root didn’t go 53
H. Brook C Pant B Thakur 0
B. Stokes C Gill B Jadaja 33
J. Smith wasn’t 44
Extras (B-12, LB-6, NB-3) 21
Total (for five wickts, 82 overs) 373
Fall of Wickts: 1-188 (Crawley), 2-206 (Pope), 3-253 (Duckett), 4-253 (Arroyo), 5-302 (Stokes)
They did not hit: C. Woakes, J. Tongue, B. Crsar, S. Bashir
Bolos: Bumrah 19-3-57-0, Siraj 14-1-51-0 (1nb), Jadeje 24-1-104-1, Krishna 15-0-92-2 (1nb), Thakur 10-0-51-2 (1NB)
Result: England won for five wickets.
Party player: Ben Duckett
Posted in Dawn, June 25, 2025
