England pulled off a sensational five-wicket win against India in the first Test at Headingley, chasing down 371 in the final hour of Day Five. Led by opening stand of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley and a composed finish from experienced Joe Root and Jamie Smith, the hosts took a 1–0 lead in the five-match series.
Under debutant captain Shubman Gill, India also had their moments, but collapses of 7 for 41 in first innings and 6 for 31 in the second innings with the bat, plus important dropped catches, proved costly. Despite scoring five centuries in the match, India failed to grab the series opener.
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Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley set the tone with an opening partnership of 188 runs, repelling India’s pace spearhead Bumrah, who went wicket less in the second innings. Duckett kept accelerating swiftly after a cautious start, bringing up his century with a reverse sweep four off Jadeja’s bowl.
India came back in match after tea with quick strikes from Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna, reducing England to five down with 69 still needed. But Root’s experience and Smith’s aggression ensured their victory.
It is to be noted that it is the second highest run chase in the England’s Test history and it is the 6th occasion when England have chased the target of 250 plus in the fourth innings under Stokes-Mccullum era.
For India and captain Gill, the loss stings not just for the result, but for the missed opportunities. The spirit was there, the fight evident, but against a team high on belief, it wasn’t quite enough.
Interestingly, this match was full of records. India becomes the first team in the history of test cricket to lose a match despite scoring 5 individual centuries. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant scored centuries in the first innings by scoring 101, 147 and 134 respectively. Pant and KL Rahul scored centuries in the second innings as well by making 118 and 137 respectively. Previously, the record was of 4 centuries in a losing cause by Australia against the same opponent in 1929, some 96 years back.
Similarly, it is for the very first time in the Test cricket history when total of 7 seven centuries and 7 ducks are made in a Test match by players of the both teams.
