Opener Ben Duckett dominated a rather mediocre Indian attack to score a fluent century as England chased the target of 371 runs with five wickets to spare on the final day of the first Test between the two countries at Headingley on Tuesday.
Joe Root (53 not out) and Jamie Smith (44 not out) carried the day for England as the hosts reached 373 for 5 from 82 overs to win the match quite convincingly. England are 1-0 up in the five-match series.
The top run scorer for England, Duckett gave Indian bowlers a run for their money, scoring 149 off 170 balls as England needed only 102 runs in the final session. Joe Root (14) and skipper Ben Stokes (13) were batting when tea was called. Duckett survived a quality morning spell from Jasprit Bumrah (0/55 in 16 overs), but concentrated on his strengths, laying England’s foundation for victory with a 188-run opening stand with Zak Crawley (65).
The interruption due to rain in the post-lunch session did help India as Prasidh Krishna (2/69 in 11 overs) bounced back strongly after a disappointing previous spell by getting Crawley out with an outswinger that was edged to KL Rahul in the slips. Ollie Pope (8), who scored a century in the first innings, was the next to go as a sharp incoming delivery breached his defence.
Despite the loss of two wickets in quick succession, Duckett continued to be on the offensive to keep England in the driver’s seat. Bumrah bowled an attacking first spell for India but got no support from the other end. Mohammed Siraj (0/45 in 13 overs), and Shardul Thakur (2/28 in 6.3 overs) could not create enough pressure as they gave too many boundaries.
Duckett remained rooted to his crease and tried playing forward or square of the wicket depending upon the length. Playing the ball late, he gave himself enough time to attack Bumrah as well. Duckett was, however, lucky to be dropped by Yashasvi Jaiswal off Siraj.
Duckett also used the reverse sweep against Jadeja to good effect as there was not much help off the surface. While one reverse sweep was hit behind the square and went for a boundary, the other one was hit over extra cover for a six.
It was Shardul who finally got rid of Duckett and Harry Brook (0). While Duckett was caught by Nitish Reddy in the cover region as he drove a half volley, Brook edged a delivery way outside leg-stump into the safe hands of Rishabh Pant.
Scoreboard: India 1st Innings: 471 all-out; England 1st Innings: 465 all-out; India 2nd Innings: 364 all-out; England 2nd innings (overnight 21/0 in 6 overs) Zak Crawley c Rahul b Krishna 65 Ben Duckett c sub (Reddy) b Thakur Ollie Pope b Krishna 8 Joe Root not out 53 Harry Brook c Pant b Thakur 0 Ben Stokes c Gill b Jadeja 33 Jamie Smith not out 44; Extras: 21 (b-12, lb-6, nb-3); Total: 373/5 in 82 overs; Fall of wickets: 1-188, 2-206, 3-253, 4-253, 5-302; Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 19-3-57-0, Mohammed Siraj 14-1-51-0, Ravindra Jadeja 24-1-104-1, Prasidh Krishna 15-0-92-2, Shardul Thakur 10-0-51-2.
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