England chase 371 in first Test at Headingly against India

England handed Shubman Gill a tough start to his red-ball captaincy era, defeating India in the opening match. Despite posting a huge target of 371, Indian bowlers were unable to defend against England’s batting line-up. A crucial century from Ben Duckett and some valuable knocks in the middle helped the home team chase their second-highest target in test cricket.

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England had the whole fifth day to chase this target. They batted six overs at the end of the fourth day. Crawley and Duckett started the chase well. Their partnership laid down a foundation for the rest of the team. Indian bowlers got some help from the overcast conditions, but the pitch didn’t offer much support to these bowlers. The cracks didn’t open and England batters took full advantage of this.

188 runs stand pressurise on Indian bowlers

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett trouble the Indian bowlers with their approach. These two respected the good balls and punished all the bad balls. This pressured the Indian bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah’s threat was also dealt with ease by these two. The opening partnership stood for 188 runs, with Duckett contributing 106 runs. Zak Crawley was the first one to depart on 65. He dealt with the threat but eventually fell to Prasidh Krishna. The Indian fast bowler gave another breakthrough in this spell. This time, he got the centurion from the previous innings. Ollie Pope was dismissed on a single-digit score.

England rode on Duckett’s century, Root’s fifty, and key cameos to power a massive run chase.

India got the two wickets, but Ben Duckett was scoring runs for fun. The left-hander made 149 runs in just 170 balls. He smashed 21 fours and one six to take his side over the line. Joe Root joined the opening batter at No. 4. Root showed his maturity by playing an anchor role. The 34-year-old stood till the end and finished not out on 53 runs.

Shardul Thakur tried to bring India back into the game. He dismissed Duckett and got Harry Brook on the very next ball. Brook had a test match to forget. He got out on 99 in the first innings and just stood for one ball in the second innings.

Ben Stokes steadied the innings in the middle with a 33-run cameo. England had wickets in hand, and the target was well within reach. Jamie Smith came to the middle and did what he was asked to. The 24-year-old wicket-keeper smashed 44 runs in just 55 balls to take his team over the line. England chased the target with five wickets in hand.

Big learning points for Team India

India will be disappointed with the result. Five centuries were not enough to win or even draw this test. Changes can be expected in the next game. The likes of Sai Sudarshan, Karun Nair, Shardul Thakur, and Mohammed Siraj could be in line for replacement. Shardul was not used properly as a bowler and he might be the first one to be replaced. The likes of Sundar, Jurel, Arshdeep, Nitish and others are waiting for their opportunities. Shubman Gill will also review what went wrong and how he can devise a better response in the second test at Birmingham.