Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett put England in charge after Ben Stokes' five-for

South Wales Guardian

3 days ago

England's openers reprised their Headingley heroics, which helped them draw first blood in last month's series opener, putting on 166 in 32 overs after India were all out for 358 at Emirates Old Trafford.
Neither was able to get to three figures as Duckett fell six runs short and Crawley was out for 84, with England going to stumps after day two of the fourth Rothesay Test on 225 for two.
That they only sit 133 behind and in a favourable position to move into an unassailable 3-1 series lead owes much to Stokes, who claimed five for 72 to restrict an India side who were able to call upon Rishabh Pant as he defied an injury to his right foot.
A brilliant day for England! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
We trail by just 1️⃣3️⃣3️⃣ runs with 8️⃣ wickets in hand.
Roll on tomorrow 💪 pic.twitter.com/6Sloskgfxa
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 24, 2025
Less than 24 hours after retiring hurt on 37 and being taken off the field on a golf buggy, Pant resumed his innings although substitute fielder Dhruv Jurel is taking on wicketkeeper duties for the rest of the Test.
Amid reports of a broken metatarsal – India have not publicly confirmed the severity of his injury – Pant limped every time he moved forward before being bowled for 54 by Jofra Archer, who claimed three for 73.
Archer struck in his first over with the second new ball after squaring up Ravindra Jadeja and drawing the edge but Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar took India from an overnight 264 for four past 300.
Stokes ended the union when Thakur was excellently caught at gully by a leaping Duckett for 41, leading to Pant's slow march to the crease, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd for soldiering on.
He wore a blow to the gloves from his third ball and runners being outlawed in Tests meant he had to hobble through for singles. His movement was severely restricted but the danger remained as Archer's slower ball after lunch was launched over deep midwicket en route to Pant reaching a courageous fifty.
But then, he was running out of partners as Stokes bounced out Sundar for 27 and nicked off debutant Anshul Kamboj three balls later for his first Test five-for since a career-best six for 22 against the West Indies nearly eight years ago.
With Jasprit Bumrah for company, Pant refused a run after smashing Archer only to be cleaned up next ball in a carbon copy of his second-innings dismissal at Lord's, with his off-stump sent flying.
After Archer finished proceedings as India lost their final four wickets for 21, Duckett had his heart in his mouth when he gloved his first ball down the leg-side, just out of reach of the diving Jurel.
Duckett then flung his bat over his shoulder close to his stumps but he ended Kamboj's eventful first over in an India jersey with back-to-back clips for four and did not look back.
A close call for Ben Duckett 😅
Have you ever seen this before? 👀 pic.twitter.com/JJJhuCwOu3
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 24, 2025
Even Bumrah struggled for containment after being dispatched twice to the boundary in an over, with all of India's seamers coming in for punishment for drifting into Duckett's pads far too often.
Crawley took 14 balls to get off nought at a ground where he made 189 in the 2023 Ashes and was initially happy to swim in Duckett's slipstream but he gradually started to assert himself with several fantastic cover drives.
While Duckett was first and quickest to fifty, Crawley overtook his partner and hammered Jadeja for a meaty straight six after the slow left-armer was brought on to offer a semblance of control.
But Jadeja got the breakthrough having been required to bowl an extra ball after overstepping moments earlier when Crawley hung out his bat and nicked low to KL Rahul, who clung on inches above the turf.
Nevertheless, Crawley had been at the centre of the timewasting row that erupted last week at Lord's and was once again under pressure after four successive scores under 25 so this knock was some riposte.
Having looked short of ideas, India celebrated with a huddle after ending the Crawley-Duckett onslaught – their second best of the last few weeks having made 188 together in Leeds.
Duckett made a match-winning 149 on that occasion but he could not ton up here after a wild slash to a Kamboj long hop took the edge through to Jurel to end a fine 100-ball innings.
There were no further alarms as Ollie Pope ended the day unbeaten on 20 and Joe Root on 11 not out.