INDIA TOUR OF ENGLAND, 2025
Gus Atkinson bagged a five-wicket haul to bowl India out for 224 © Getty
Despite the help on offer, India’s bowlers looked rattled and short of ideas in the opening session on Day 2 as England raced away to 109/1 at Lunch. Zak Crawley used his reach, Ben Duckett used his feet and unorthodoxy as the two became the most prolific England opening pair against India, going past the 932 runs scored by Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss.
While Crawley got into the groove right from the first over, a key moment for Duckett came in the fourth over, when he edged Akash Deep off the shoulder of the bat and saw the chance go begging in front of backward point (Washington Sundar) and gully (Sai Sudharsan). Next ball, Duckett switched his stance and reverse-scooped Akash Deep over the slips. Only Sam Konstas (against Bumrah, MCG, 2024) has played that shot earlier in a Test innings.
It was also the shot that eventually got him, again off Akash Deep, but not before England had 92 on the board. Other than that, the closest India came to taking a wicket was when they wasted a review on Duckett, with the technology suggesting that the ball was going over the stumps, not surprisingly on the fastest, bounciest track of the series,
Prasidh Krishna came on in the eighth over but soon reverted to his default back-of-a-length style. It offered little control on this surface and was taken for runs. The tempo dipped briefly after Duckett’s dismissal, but Crawley kept going and reached a 42-ball fifty; it was his 19th in Tests and third of the series.
Earlier in the session, Josh Tongue struck early by trapping Karun Nair in front, removing the overnight batter before Gus Atkinson wrapped up the innings with three quick wickets to complete his five-wicket haul. Washington Sundar fell to a short-ball trap, while Siraj was bowled and Prasidh Krishna edged behind to deliveries they had no answers to. India could add only 20 runs to their overnight tally, with a fair share of those coming from extras and edges.
Brief Scores: India 224 (Karun Nair 57; Gus Atkinson 5-22) lead England 109/1 (Zak Crawley 52*, Ben Duckett 43) by 115 runs.
© Cricbuzz
