England captain Ben Stokes praised opener Ben Duckett for his winning effort in the first Test against India on June 24 at Headingley, Leeds. The left-handed hitter was instrumental in England’s five-wicket win in the series opener, striking 149 off 170 deliveries.
In the fourth innings, the hosts faced a challenging target of 371 and completed it in 82 overs, making it their second-highest successful chase in Test history. Jamie Smith secured the victory in style, sending the ball into the stands to cap a spectacular run pursuit and give England a 1-0 lead in the five-game series.
“We’ve had some great memories here over the previous five years, and this is another one to add to the list. It was an incredible Test match to be a part of, going down to the final hour on day five and chasing a massive total. “Very special start to the series,” Stokes
“Duckett was incredible.” The pressure of the fourth innings is high, and batting is difficult enough, especially in England. So the relationship between Zak [Crawley] and Duckett was simply wonderful; they set us up brilliantly,” Stokes continued.
Stokes emphasised that England’s successful chase was driven by Duckett and Crawley’s imposing 188-run opening partnership, which laid the groundwork for the squad to attain the mark on Day 5.
“Those two compliment each other so beautifully. Duckett scored the big goal that helped us win the game, but I think Crawley’s ability to stay composed and in the moment was also crucial to our victory,” Stokes stated.
Stokes won the toss and chose to bowl first, which backfired as India scored 471 in the first innings. However, things eventually changed in England’s favour, as they mounted an incredible comeback to claim a five-wicket victory on the last day.
“You don’t know what will happen until the ball is bowled. You must choose what you believe would give you the best chance of winning the game, which is fortunate given that Test cricket is played over five days.
We were trying to figure out what would offer us the best chance to win this game,” Ben Stokes said.
“On day one, the wicket here appeared to have a bit of grass on top of it and some dampness underneath. We backed ourselves to win the toss, bowl first, and try to hit a few of early poles,” he said.
In their first innings, India produced five hundreds, with Yashasvi Jaiswal (101), KL Rahul (137), Shubman Gill (147), and Rishabh Pant scoring twin tonnes (134 and 118). Despite India’s excellent batting performance, England capitalised on India’s lost fielding opportunities, particularly dropped catches, to secure a commanding victory in Leeds.
“There’s no doubt that chasing down totals boosts team confidence.” However, this does not guarantee that this will always be the case. The opposing team played well. This is international-level cricket, with very excellent players on both sides, and we bowled reasonably effectively in that first session, but I thought India performed extremely well on day one,” Stokes said.
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