'Just Lord Things': Shardul Thakur Takes Two In Two To Give India Glimmer Of Hope vs England. Watch
England opener Ben Duckett bossed a lacklustre Indian attack smashing a fine century as England inched closer towards victory despite losing four wickets with a session's play left in the opening Test here on Tuesday. In pursuit of a target of 371, Duckett flayed Indian bowlers to score 149 off 170 balls as England reached 269 for 4 at tea with only 102 runs required in the final session on the fifth day. Joe Root (14 batting) and skipper Ben Stokes (13 batting) with a cumulative experience of 266 Test appearances between them will need to put the finishing touches in the final session.
Left-handed Duckett did survive a quality morning spell from Jasprit Bumrah (0/55 in 16 overs) but stuck to his strengths with amazing conviction, laying a foundation for victory with a 188-run opening stand alongside Zak Crawley (65).
The rain break in the post-lunch session did help India as Prasidh Krishna (2/69 in 11 overs) after a disappointing morning session spell came back strongly getting Crawley with an outswinger that was fished to KL Rahul in the slips and then first innings centurion Ollie Pope (8) got a sharp incoming delivery that breached his defence.
Once he changed to a fuller length from his natural back of length strategy, he got the wickets but by then it was a bit late.
Despite the twin blows, Duckett continued his offensive batting style to keep England's nose ahead before the start of the post-tea session.
For India, Bumrah bowled a probing first spell but there was no support from the other end. Mohammed Siraj (0/45 in 13 overs), and Shardul Thakur (2/28 in 6.3 overs) bowled enough boundary balls to let England off the hook.
Duckett's game is based on simple hand-eye coordination as there was hardly any footwork.
The 30-year-old mostly remained rooted to his crease and tried playing forward or square of the wicket depending upon the length. He played late and that gave him time to punish Bumrah as well during the subsequent spells.
Duckett was dropped by Yashasvi Jaiswal off Siraj much to the frustration of the bowler.
When Jadeja bowled, Duckett would reverse sweep him for good measure as there was not much help off the surface. If one reverse sweep was hit behind the square and went for boundary, the other one was even more audacious and over extra cover for a six.
Not playing a spinner of Kuldeep Yadav 's calibre came back to haunt India.
If India would have expected that the quick wickets would push Duckett on the defensive, they were mistaken as he continued to cut, pull and sweep with utter disdain.
However it was Shardul, India's forever lucky charm, who bowled two poor deliveries back-to-back but to everyone's surprise was able to remove Duckett and Harry Brook (0) to keep visitors interested.
Just things...
Shardul Thakur pulls India right back into it! #SonySportsNetwork #GroundTumharaJeetHamari #ENGvIND #NayaIndia #DhaakadIndia #TeamIndia #ExtraaaInnings | @imShard pic.twitter.com/92r5A9h8Nu
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) June 24, 2025
While Duckett uppishly drove a half volley to Nitish Reddy in the cover region, Brook clipped a delivery on fifth leg-stump as Rishabh Pant took a smart catch down the leg side.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
15 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Marlins use 8th-inning rally to beat Diamondbacks 6-4, win 7th straight game
Jun 30, 2025 04:52 AM IST PHOENIX — Otto Lopez hit a go-ahead, two-run single and Kyle Stowers added a three-run double during an eighth-inning rally and the Miami Marlins completed a three-game sweep by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 on Sunday. HT Image The streaking Marlins have won seven in a row. The Diamondbacks took a 2-1 lead into the eighth inning, but lefty Jalen Beeks walked the bases loaded with two outs. Lopez then hit a line drive into left that scored Liam Hicks and Dane Myers for a 3-2 lead. Agustin Ramirez was intentionally walked to load the bases again and Stowers hit a bases-clearing double to push the advantage to 6-2. Arizona's pitchers walked 10 batters and the team dropped its fourth straight game to fall below .500 at 41-42. Beeks gave up five earned runs and recorded just two outs, one day after giving up three earned runs and recording one out in an 8-7 loss. D-backs lefty Eduardo Rodríguez had another good outing, giving up one run on four hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five. The 32-year-old had a 1.98 ERA over 27 1/3 innings in June. Miami's Cal Quantrill gave up two runs on three hits and a walk over five innings, striking out five. Lake Bachar pitched two scoreless innings of relief and Ronny Henriquez handled the ninth for his third save. Ketel Marte's solo homer in the third put the D-backs up 2-1. It was his 17th homer of the season. The D-backs cut it to 6-4 in the bottom of the eighth, but Calvin Faucher struck out Jake McCarthy with runners on first and second to end the threat. Arizona's bullpen is one of the worst in baseball with a 5.22 ERA coming into Sunday's game. The Marlins return home to face the Minnesota Twins and RHP Joe Ryan on Tuesday. The D-backs continue their homestand on Monday when RHP Ryne Nelson takes the mound against the San Francisco Giants and RHP Logan Webb . This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Stay updated with the latest sports news, including latest headlines and updates from the Olympics 2024, where Indian athletes will compete for glory in Paris. Catch all the action from tennis Grand Slam tournaments, follow your favourite football teams and players with the latest match results, and get the latest on international hockey tournaments and series.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
US Open 2025: Ayush Shetty wins maiden title, Tanvi Sharma finishes as runner-up
Ayush Shetty clinched his maiden title on the BWF World Tour on Sunday as he defeated Canada's Brian Yang 21-18, 21-13 in the US Open final at Council Bluffs, Iowa. The 20-year-old Ayush became the first Indian shuttler to win a title this season. However, 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma went down 21-11, 16-21, 21-11 to top seed and home favourite Beiwen Zhang in the women's final. More to follow...
India Gazette
an hour ago
- India Gazette
India women's hockey team suffers 2-3 defeat against China, gets relegated from FIH Hockey Pro League
Berlin [Germany], June 29 (ANI): The Indian women's hockey team ended their FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 campaign with a 2-3 loss against China here in Berlin on Sunday. Though it was an inspired performance by India, it was simply not enough to get the better of China. It was goals by Ying Zhang (19', 30') and Xu Wenyu (53') that helped China win, while Sunelita Toppo (9') and Rujuta Dadaso Pisal (38') scored for India. This was the last match of the season, with the Netherlands finishing on top, Argentina finishing second, and Belgium finishing third in the league, while China finished fourth in the points table. India finished last and will be relegated from the FIH Pro League. They will need to play the FIH Nations Cup to earn their place again in the prestigious tournament. Though it was China who got on to a good start with an early penalty corner (PC), India made headway in the 9th minute when a pass from Neha Goyal to Sunelita Toppo led to a fine goal. The youngster from Odisha picked up the pass well, ran up wide to create space and got a clear shot on goal. Two minutes later, China threatened to equalise when they won a PC but India defended well. It didn't take too long for China to find an equaliser. In the 18th minute, China won a PC - though there was no goal from this attempt, Deng Qiuchan was hit on the face by Indian defender Manisha Chauhan while she was trying to clear the ball. Quichan had to be taken off the field, and the on-field umpire handed China a penalty stroke, which India appealed. The video umpire did uphold India's review and awarded a PC to China, which they promptly converted through Ying Zhang. Building momentum in their attack, China fetched another PC towards the end of the second quarter. Zhang was spot-on yet again as she added another goal to her name, ensuring China were in the lead. India had their chance to equalise in the 37th minute when they won their first PC of the game. At the same time, the Chinese defenders blocked the first PC. Though the on-field umpire missed it, India took a successful referral and were awarded another PC. This time, Navneet Kaur took the shot and tried a fantastic variation. The experienced Kaur passed the ball to Rujuta, who was standing on the right flank. She got a perfect deflection to level the score. India showcased an inspired performance today, put pressure on China, creating potential chances in the circle and even found success. China, meanwhile, began the final quarter with a PC after a back stick foul by India. This one was well-defended by Bichu Devi, India's goalie. Bichu was kept busy in the following minutes as China won two more PCs, but Devi was on par with her saves. A relentless China ended up finding success in the 53rd minute when Xu Wenyu converted this one through a PC. India giving away soft PCs has been a concern in both matches against China. The 3-2 lead put China in a good position to finish well. 'This Pro League we played attacking hockey. We need to continue to build on it. We have the World Cup qualifier coming up, and our aim will be to do well there,' stated Salima Tete after the match as quoted from Hockey India. (ANI)
