Ben Duckett hit a magnificent 149 off just 170 balls as England chased 371 to clinch a famous, thrilling five-wicket win over India on the final day of the first Test at Headingley.
Duckett’s majestic knock – part of a 188-run opening partnership with Zak Crawley (65) – laid the foundations for England’s second-highest successful run chase in Tests, while Joe Root (53no) saw them over the line after a flurry of wickets either side of tea had the hosts briefly rattled.
Prasidh Krishna (2-92) saw off Crawley and Ollie Pope (8) in back-to-back overs, while just as Duckett and Root had seemingly settled the nerves with a 47-run stand, the former chipped one to cover and Shardul Thakur (2-51) added Harry Brook (0) next ball.
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Watch the best of Ben Duckett’s 149 from the fifth day of England’s opening Test match against India
England’s successful chase was their second-highest in Test cricket
Again England appeared to have weathered the storm – across a literal break for rain over tea – as Root and Ben Stokes added 49 together. The pair felt like a safe pair of hands, with Root having hit 142 in England’s highest-ever chase of 378 against the same opposition three years ago, and Stokes 135 to almost single-handedly reel in 359 on the same ground in the 2019 Ashes. But then the captain fell.
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Ben Stokes attempted a reverse-sweep off Ravindra Jadeja but did not connect properly and top-edged to Shubman Gill at short third
With Ravindra Jadeja (1-104) finally operating out of the heavy rough to the left-hander, having ignored it for much of Duckett’s innings, the spinner was proving a sizeable threat and he ultimately saw off Stokes (33) to a top-edged reverse sweep.
England still needed 69 with the fall of that fifth wicket and had the added threat of rain returning to scupper their push, but India faded in the outfield as the runs were knocked off in fluent fashion by Root and Jamie Smith (44no), victory sealed with a six from the latter to see the hosts into a 1-0 lead in the five-Test series.
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Jamie Smith completed England’s second-highest run-chase ever in style with a huge six to see them take a 1-0 lead in their series against India.
This England run chase was not the typical ‘Bazballian’ effort we have grown accustomed to since the Brendon McCullum-Stokes axis arrived as coach and captain in 2022, with only 42 runs scored in the first hour of the fifth day’s play – Duckett and Crawley’s fifty stand off 99 balls their slowest yet.
The pair not only negotiated that tricky first hour and the threat of Jasprit Bumrah (0-57) – fresh from his first-innings five-for, but wicketless on the final day – but they breezed past 2,000 Test runs as a partnership as their 188 together provided the ideal platform.
Both survived a couple of sizeable scares when Crawley was dropped on 42 by Bumrah – a tough chance off his own bowling – and Duckett, crucially, on 97 by Yashasvi Jaiswal at deep backward square, his third drop of the Test.
Duckett would make the most of the reprieve to bring up his sixth Test ton, off 121 balls, the first fourth-innings hundred by an England opener in 15 years – since Sir Alastair Cook at Mirpur in 2010.
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Prasidh Krishna grabbed two quick wickets against England in their second innings on the fifth day of the first Test
Shortly after a 20-minute interruption to the afternoon session to rain, India finally claimed their first breakthrough, Crawley edging one from Krishna to slip, with a second swiftly following as Pope was bowled by a nip-backer in the seamer’s next over.
Duckett and Root steadied things and were still scoring quickly, with Duckett reverse-sweeping Jadeja for a glorious six over extra cover, before the hosts really were rattled by the loss of him and Brook to soft dismissals off consecutive Thakur deliveries.
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Shardul Thakur took the wickets of Ben Duckett and Harry Brook off consecutive balls to drag India back into a thrilling first Test
Stokes struggled for his usual fluency as Jadeja finally operated consistently out of the rough available and, after threatening to take his wicket on numerous occasions, the England skipper finally succumbed soon after tea.
But any concern over a late collapse was quickly quashed as Root, cheered on by his vocal Headingley home support, and a calm and composed Smith – as has been a feature of his fledgling international career – ticked off the remaining runs without alarm.
Not only do England take a 1-0 series lead into the second Test but India also suffer the ignominy of becoming the first team in history to lose after scoring five centuries in a Test match after Rishabh Pant’s back-to-back tons, along with hundreds for Jaiswal, captain Shubman Gill and KL Rahul.
Stokes: Another good Headingley memory
England captain Ben Stokes:
“We have got some good memories at Headingley over the last few years and this is another to add to it. It was an awesome Test to be part of.
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England captain Ben Stokes says he has no regrets over his decision to bowl first against India at Headingley after a ‘special’ run chase gave his side victory by five wickets.
“It went down to the last hour on day five and we chased a big total, so it was a pretty special start to the series.
“That partnership [off 188] Duckett and Crawley got us off to set us up brilliantly. Ducky got the big score but Zak stayed composed and in the moment and his 65 was important.
“A lot of skill has contributed to is winning this Test match but also the attitude. We have been in the field for long periods of time but every session we had the attitude we could blow this game open.”
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Player of the Match, Ben Duckett, said he and Zak Crawley felt the importance of them not losing an early wicket in England’ pursuit of their 371-run target.
‘Incredible’ England do it again
Sky Sports Cricket’s Stuart Broad:
“There will be a lot of celebrations but England will have had belief all day, they would never have had any doubts.
“It was a sensational run chase and Duckett was outstanding with his 149. It is incredible how this team keep doing this.
“They needed 371 on a day-five pitch but did it calmly. There was a huge amount of skill on show.
“England should probably have lost this game – India had so many chances to put it to bed but England scrapped and fought.”
A hard loss for India to take
Sky Sports Cricket’s Dinesh Karthik:
“India will be pensive. They were well ahead for the majority of the game, in the driving seat, scoring five individual hundreds across two innings.
“But at no point today when England were batting did you feel India were in the game. There will be massive learnings.
“Make sure you grind opposition into the ground and don’t give them a chance.”
Watch the second Test between England and India from Edgbaston, live on Sky Sports Cricket from Wednesday July 2, or stream with no contract.
England vs India Test series ☀️
All games at 11am UK and Ireland; all live on Sky Sports
First Test, Headingley – England won by five wicketsSecond Test: Wednesday July 2-Sunday July 6 – EdgbastonThird Test: Thursday July 10-Monday July 14 – Lord’sFourth Test: Wednesday July 23-Sunday July 27 – Emirates Old TraffordFifth Test: Thursday July 31-Monday August 4 – The Kia Oval
