Cricket news: England chase mammoth total at Headingley to overcome India in Test series opener
England began their five-match Test series against India with an emphatic fourth-innings chase at Headingley to take an early 1-0 lead in the blockbuster match-up.
The home side reeled in a mammoth 371-run target, securing the win with less than an hour to play on the final day.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Bilal Patel breaks down five decisive moments from a captivating clash in Leeds.
England prove masters of the chase
Once again, Brendon McCullum’s side turned up when their backs were against the wall.
The opening 188-run stand between Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett in the second innings set England on their way to their second-highest run-chase in Test cricket.
Although it wasn’t as big of a spectacle as Ben Stokes’ heroics at the same venue during the 2019 Ashes, the composure shown by the English batters was worthy of celebration.
Indeed, Duckett’s 149 in that mammoth chase together with his 62 in the first innings led to him deservedly being named Player of the Match.
And despite a slight wobble in the chase, the experienced Joe Root and flamboyant Jamie Smith steered the home side to a memorable win.
The result further proves that this side will never back down in any situation and will continue to push a ‘Bazball’ style of play for the remainder of the series.
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New-look Indian side crumbles under pressure
In the opening Test match of the Shubman Gill era, there were a couple of new and returning faces in the Indian line-up, some of whom failed to rise to the occasion.
It was not the most memorable debut for Sai Sudharsan, who got out for a two-ball duck in his first-ever Test innings.
Although he looked much-improved in the second innings when scoring 30, a lot more will be expected from the youngster at number three.
Karun Nair, meanwhile, came back into the Test side after eight years away and it was far from a special return.
Like Sudharsan, he scored a duck in the first innings and then followed that up by only managing 20 runs in the second.
The visitors also suffered horrible collapses in each innings, going from 430-3 to 471 all out and from 287-3 to 364 all out.
Despite this, India were slight favourites heading into day five but failed to capitalise on any opportunities to break through the England batting order.
Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped four catches alone as the game slowly slipped away from the visitors.
The result is likely a tough pill to swallow for head coach Gautam Gambhir, with India more than capable of going toe-to-toe with England on their day.
However, after an opening loss, the visitors will need to conjure up some good results to get back into this series.
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Visitors overly reliant on Jasprit Bumrah
It was a frustrating bowling display from an Indian perspective, with Bumrah again doing all the heavy lifting.
The 31-year-old picked up yet another five-fer in the host’s first innings and seemed unplayable at times.
Unfortunately, the rest of the attack were not up to Bumrah’s standards as the likes of Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur twice failed to defend big targets.
Given that Bumrah is only expected to play three out of the five Tests due to workload management after returning from a back injury, there is now pressure on the selectors to stick with the fast bowler for the clash at Edgbaston next week.
The visitors could also look to make changes in the bowling department, bringing into the fold fast bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep or leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
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Hosts’ late bowling renaissance saves blushes
For most of the match, India’s batters looked relatively comfortable on a flat wicket.
Chris Woakes did not offer much with the ball, striking just once over the course of the match, while Shoaib Bashir was similarly ineffective with his off-spin for large parts as India ticked along nicely.
In contrast, Brydon Carse was excellent with the new ball, getting rid of a solid KL Rahul in both innings.
Tongue was likewise brilliant in twice cleaning up the visitors’ tail, picking up the wicket of the well-set Rishabh Pant in the first innings and grabbing three wickets in four deliveries in the second.
Stokes, for his part, was lacklustre with the bat but bowled 35 solid overs for a return of five wickets, including a four-fer in the first innings.
Ultimately, England’s bowlers managed to hold their nerve when it counted, despite boasting an inexperienced line-up, and that ended up being the difference between the two sides.
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India’s top order shines despite loss
After being put into bat by Stokes on a blistering Friday morning, India’s batters stood up to the task.
Jaiswal (101), Gill (147), and Pant (134) all notched up centuries in the first innings, with the latter going on to entertain the Leeds crowd by notching up a second century, this time 118, in the second innings.
He became only the second wicketkeeper-batsman to score centuries in both innings of a Test match after Andy Flower.
Elsewhere, having missed out on a three-figure score in the first innings, KL Rahul’s elegance shone through the second time around as he top scored with 137 runs.
However, with the eventual defeat, India created an unwanted record by becoming the first team in Test history to lose a match after having five individual centuries.
In the end, with pitches for the upcoming Tests expected to be relatively flat and well-suited for batting, it’s vital that the Indian batters cash in and make impactful totals when they can against a slightly weakened English bowling line-up.
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