Duckett delivers as Bazball brilliance seals Headingley heist

Bangkok Post

5 days ago

The thrilling first Test between England and India at Headingley proved a fine advertisement for five-day cricket, providing a feast of runs and plenty of drama right down to the closing overs of a nail-biting run chase.
The closely fought encounter in which the hosts eventually prevailed bodes well for the remainder of the five-match series which continues at Edgbaston next week.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan could not resist referring to England's win as "Bazball with brains" highlighting their sensible approach in the 371 run chase by being aggressive without resorting to wild shots that has sometimes let them down in the past. It was England's second-highest successful chase, the previous being 378 also against India three years ago.
On the final day England could not have asked more from their opening batsmen Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley who put on 188 for the first wicket which set up things nicely. Duckett went on to make a brilliant 149 and was deservedly named Player of the Match.
India could be forgiven for wondering how they lost a match in which five of their batsmen scored centuries which would normally guarantee a victory. In all they compiled an aggregate 835 runs and in both innings they looked to be in commanding positions, 430-3 in the first and 333-4 in the second.
But both times England were helped by batting collapses from India's fragile tail-enders as they lost 7-41 in the first innings and 6-31 in the second. Contributing to England's success was some shoddy fielding by India with six dropped catches, including three by Yashasvi Jaiswal. The unfortunate opening bat had earlier struck an excellent century with some sizzling strokes.
Before the match started there had been much excitement at the prospect of seeing India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah in action. Regarded by many as currently the best bowler in the world he certainly delivered in the first innings taking 5-83 and had some of England's best batsmen in real trouble. However, in the second innings he did not have the same impact finishing with 0-57.
India have already announced that Bumrah is not fit enough to play in all five Tests and it will concern selectors as to who will step up and take the wickets against England's formidable batting line-up which includes the ever reliable Joe Root and exciting stroke-maker Harry Brook.
England captain Ben Stokes had come under fire on the first day for opting to field on what looked like a good batting wicket on a hot, sunny day that would make bowling hard work. Those fears appeared to be well-founded when India had reached 430-3 at one stage on the second day.
But later events vindicated Stokes' decision although it was a very close run thing and India had begun the final day as favourites. No wonder one of Stokes' first comments after the match was: "It is a good job Test cricket is played over five days."
He praised the positive mindset of his team. "This win is not down to just the skill but the attitude of the dressing room." It was also encouraging to see Stokes in good bowling form although his batting looked a bit scratchy. India's new captain Shubman Gill, who hit a fine 147 in the first innings, admitted the loss was a tough one, commenting "We had our moments but England are so good we needed to kill the game.''