England won their first Test match against India with a sensational five-wicket score in the title match, reaching a target of 371 – the 10th most successful run chase in Test history.
England appeared to be cruising to a dramatic victory on Tuesday after turning the cricket match on its head at Headingley after India had won by 430-3 in their opening test match.
At lunch, Duckett and Crawley’s opening duo 117-0 eased their side into the break.
Before Crawley fell for 65, Duckett continued his impressive form with four more victories under the covers to reach his sixth Test hundred.
The second-highest opening fourth-innings partnership between England and England in Tests was 188-runs.
India was reintroduced into the thrilling contest by Harry Brook and Duckett taking two wickets in two balls. England’s chances of winning were pampered by the fact that Ben Stokes had to fall for 33 in a desperate reverse sweep.
With the former skipper and Jamie Smith hitting a six in the opening match to bring England home after scoring five centuries in the match, India somehow managed to start the five-test series in disarray. Joe Root’s unbeaten 53 eased the nerves around his home ground.
What a Test match, that is unbelievable. We had a lot of runs, Duckett said, and the weather was perfect. I can’t come up with words.
We only had to look at the scoreboard to determine whether or not to bat the overs. The breaks in the game kept us calm during times when I thought about switching gears.
It’s important for us to win this series by opening it up with a score of 1-0. In the dressing room, there was a sense of calm. It’s relatively simple to be calm when Root is present.
Crawley and Duckett took 99 balls to increase their 50 partnership, which is the longest the pair have ever had for England, before raising the stakes at day five, which was unusual for a team known for its ultra-aggressive batting, before going back on 21-0.
When first-innings centurion Ollie Pope quickly followed Crawley back to the pavilion midway through the afternoon session, the number three falling to Prasidh Krishna’s next victim in back-to-back overs, there was a slight concern for England.
However, Duckett continued to add runs quickly before attempting one big shot too many, falling to Shardul Thakur for 149, the second-highest score in an English opener’s fourth-innings.
It has been 15 years since an England opener last scored a fourth-innings hundred, Alastair Cook at Mirpur in 2010, so Duckett’s contribution is unquestionable in such a pressurized setting.
When Brook left for a golden duck, two in two balls for Thakur, and England’s edgy appearance, a few more frights followed.
After drinking tea, Root and Smith both dug in, stopped offering up chances, and scored the runs needed, with Smith completing a remarkable victory in style. Stokes was left shaking his head as he fell to Ravindra Jadeja shortly after.
India ultimately lost due to numerous dropped catches and two batting collapses. The final seven wickets were lost by them for just 41 runs, with the tail crumbling once more in the second innings. The final six wickets totaled 31 runs as a result of their 430-3 defeat.
For the first time in cricket history has a team managed five centuries in a single Test and not triumphed, and it’s also the first time six batsmen have joined them in a match that included three ducks-for-ducks in each innings.
India’s captain Shubman Gill said, “We had our chances.” I’m proud that we lost a few dropped catches and that the lower order didn’t contribute as much as we would have liked, but that’s okay. Our young team is developing.
In this match, it simply didn’t go our way. In the upcoming matches, we must correct [the batting collapses].
With their aggressive approach, even if it has been toned down and refined, allowing England to achieve their second-highest run chase in Test history, the team could not have gotten off to a more promising start as they approached the Ashes later this year.
Source: Aljazeera
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