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On the final day of the first Test between England and India in Headingley, India struggled to pick up wickets the majority of time. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett looked ruthless against bowlers and accumulated runs at a brisk pace. In the initial stage of the day’s play, both openers played cautiously against India bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah but gave no respect to other bowlers. Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj were taken to the cleaners and became the main targets of both batters. Siraj, who was looking to bag wickets voraciously, created a chance in the 39th over but didn’t get assistance from Yashasvi Jaiswal.
With Ben Duckett dominating India in the game, Siraj delivered a short ball to the southpaw. Batting at 97, the 30-year-old looked uneasy against the speedster and mistimed a shot towards the leg side. Yashasvi, who was deployed at the deep, got the ball in his hand but couldn’t hold it. Noting Jaiswal’s blunder, Siraj couldn’t keep his cool and screamed in frustration. After that, Duckett went on to complete his hundred and got out after scoring 149 runs of 170 balls.
England lose four quick wickets in second session
Until tea on the fifth day, England are 269/4, with veterans Joe Root (unbeaten 14 off 31) and Ben Stokes (unbeaten 13 off 17) at the crease. In the final session, the hosts require 102 runs to win. Ben Dukett, who looked dangerous and racked up the sixth red-ball ton, got dismissed by Shardul Thakur while attempting to collect a boundary.
Dropping Duckett proved costly for the visitors as he got dismissed after playing 149-run innings. After his fall, Harry Brook also fell against Thakur without scoring any runs. In the last session, India will expect Jasprit Bumrah to step up and wreak havoc on the home side. In the second innings, the 31-year-old has created issues for batters but hasn’t delivered any wickets to the team. Now England needs 102 runs to win while India require six wickets in the last session of day five.
