India’s Top Order Shines Before England Begin Final-Day Chase
On the last day of the first Test at Headingley on Monday, England’s openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley pieced together 21 runs without losing. India had set a tough goal of 371 runs after centuries from Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.
Duckett and Crawley, who are both unbeaten on nine and twelve, will continue England’s chase on the last day, when all outcomes are still possible. The visitors started their second innings again earlier in the day, with Rahul and captain Shubman Gill (eight) adding two more runs to their overnight third-wicket partnership before Brydon Carse cleaned up Gill.
After he was out, Pant, who had also scored a century in the first innings, joined Rahul, and the two of them worked well together to bring India back to the top.
Rahul and Pant put together a 195-run stand for the fourth wicket, with both players earning hundreds. The important stand ended with Pant’s ejection just minutes before the tea break. The wicketkeeper hitter hit 118 runs off 140 balls, including 15 fours and three sixes.
After he was out, Rahul and Karun Nair scored 46 runs for the fifth wicket. They both died in the next two overs, leaving India at 335/6.
Rahul was still India’s leading scorer with 137 runs off 247 balls, including 18 boundaries. Nair scored 20 runs with the help of three boundaries. The two quick outs showed how weak India’s batting tail was, and Josh Tongue’s triple-wicket maiden in the 91st over quickly broke it down.
Ravindra Jadeja, an experienced all-rounder, maintained one end steady while the lower order fell apart. He then added important runs to India’s total with a one-sided 15-run stand for the 10th wicket with Prasidh Krishna.
Shoaib Bashir eventually sent Krishna back since Jadeja was still not out after 40 balls, thanks to two fours and a six. Tongue and Carse both took three wickets to lead England’s bowling attack. Bashir took two, and returning Chris Woakes and skipper Ben Stokes each took one.
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