England captain Ben Stokes hailed Ben Duckett’s outstanding performance as the hosts made more magical memories at Headingley.
England beat India by five wickets in the first Test in Leeds to lead the series 1-0 after Duckett notched a brilliant 149 as the hosts chased 371 in 82 overs.
It brought back memories of Stokes’ Headingley heroics in 2019, when his Ashes-saving century helped England stun Australia, but this time around it was Joe Root (53no) and Jamie Smith (44no) hitting the winning runs, with the Surrey wicketkeeper-batter smashing Ravindra Jadeja (1-104) over long-on for six to seal the deal.
“We’ve got some good memories here over the last few years and this is another one to add to it,” Stokes told Sky Sports Cricket.
“It was an awesome Test match to be part of, going down to the last hour on day five and chasing a big total. Pretty special start to the series.
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Highlights from the fifth day of the first Test between England and India from Headingley
“Duckett was unbelievable. The pressure of the fourth innings is tough and batting is hard enough, especially in England. So that partnership between Zak [Crawley] and Duckett was just incredible, they set us up brilliantly.
“Those two complement each other so well. Duckett has got the big score that contributed towards us winning this game, but I thought the way Crawley was able to stay composed and stay in the moment was also very important to this win.”
On day one of the Test, when England won the toss and elected to bowl, their decision to insert India on a dry pitch was called “interesting” by Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton.
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Rishabh Pant has been reprimanded by the ICC for showing dissent towards umpire Paul Reiffel
“It was a really interesting call [at the toss]. All the numbers say bowl – the last six wins here have come from the team bowling first,” Atherton said on day one.
“But cricketing common sense says, ‘it’s a hot day and it’s 30 degrees over the next couple of days’.
“I think in the end Stokes has gone with the stats, what the pitch has done here at Headingley this year – it hasn’t deteriorated in county games – and also England’s strength: they don’t mind a chase.”
Speaking about the toss after securing the win, Stokes said: “You don’t know what’s going to happen before a ball has been bowled.
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Josh Tongue took three wickets in four deliveries during day four of the first Test for England against India
“You’ve got to go with what you think is going to give you the best chance of winning the game and it’s a good job Test cricket is played over five days.
“We were trying to think about what would give us the best opportunity to win this game and the wicket here on day one looked like there was a bit of grass on top of it, and there was a bit of moisture underneath it.
“We backed ourselves to win that toss and bowl first, and try and strike a couple of early poles.
“The opposition lads played well. This is international-level cricket, where the quality of players on either side is very good, and we bowled pretty well in that first session, but India as well, I thought they played incredibly well on day one.”
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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
Despite India’s players hitting five centuries – Yashasvi Jaiswal (101), Shubman Gill (147), KL Rahul (137) and Rishabh Pant (134 and 118) – under new captain Gill, they were left to rue their dropped catches and misfields as England completed their second-highest run chase, reaffirming their belief they can go after big totals.
“There’s no doubt that chasing down totals does give you confidence as a team,” Stokes said. “But it doesn’t mean that is how it’s always going to go.
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Player of the Match Ben Duckett said not overthinking was crucial in England reaching their 371-run target
“Having confidence in this dressing room that we are able to win against quality opposition, like we have done quite a number of times now, fills this dressing room with confidence, but we’re not always going to be in that situation.
“We might be stuck into bat first and we might have to bowl the team out as well, which has a different pressure of its own.
“It’s been a great start to the series and we’ve got four more hard games coming up.”
Broad: England never doubt they can win
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Jamie Smith completed England’s second-highest run chase in style with a huge six to take a 1-0 lead in their series against India
Sky Sports’ Stuart Broad said England would never have been in doubt that they could win the first Test against India, even when pace bowler Shardul Thakur (2-51) struck twice in the same number of balls.
“There will be a lot of celebrations but there would have been a belief all day that they could get that job done,” Broad said on Sky Sports Cricket.
“It was a sensational run chase. Duckett was absolutely outstanding.
“It’s just incredible how this team keeps doing this. They needed 370 runs to win a Test match on a day-five pitch and did it quite calmly.
“It’s a wonderful feeling when you win a Test match like that, when in reality India had so many opportunities to put this game to bed.
“But England just scrapped and fought hard for the four days, and then showed their best today.”
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Ben Stokes attempted the reverse sweep off Ravindra Jadeja but did not connect properly and top-edged to Shubman Gill at short third
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
