Ben Duckett orchestrated England’s five-wicket win against India in the first Test at Headingley, Leeds, with an exquisite half-century in the first innings and a ferocious tonne in the second.
With a challenging mark of 371 to chase in the fourth innings, England needed their in-form opener to step up, which he did. The southpaw scored 149 off just 170 balls, including 21 fours and a single six. He ended with a strike rate of 87.64.
Former England speedster Steve Harmison praised Duckett, stating that the Farnborough native had the belief that he would play a game-winning innings. Harmison, on the other hand, stated that India did not believe they would be able to fire Duckett, and that their intentions for the 30-year-old were not appropriate.
“Ben Duckett delivered an excellent performance. “He believed he was going to play a match-winning knock,” Harmison.
“Duckett believed he would score runs. He had a lot of positive purpose, as he usually does. I’m not sure India thought they were going to get him out. I don’t think India got its ideas right. I don’t think they bowled the proper lengths and lines to him. “And he took advantage of it,” Harmison said.
The cricketer-turned-expert claimed that India failed to prevent Duckett from scoring. He also praised England’s ability to score singles even on good balls struck by Indian bowlers.
“They did not have an answer. They didn’t have a strategy to prevent him from scoring. They lacked a plan and were completely unsure of how to carry it out using their skill set. Even in the field, they were not preventing singles. “India’s bowlers were bowling good balls, but England were getting singles,” Harmison explained.
India will seek to regroup with eight days until the second Test, which begins on Wednesday, July 2, at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
India
