Stokes hails 'incredible' opening stand as England repeat history

Ben Stokes, England's captain, heaped praise on his opening pair of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley after their crucial final-day stand of 188, as history repeated itself with a spectacular 371-run chase in the first Test against India at Headingley.

Three years after the two teams' last meeting in England ended with Stokes' men hunting down a record 378 to square the series at Edgbaston, this latest epic was sealed in the first over of the match's final hour. Jamie Smith's slog-swept six over wide long-on capped an unbroken 71-stand for the sixth wicket with Joe Root, who finished unbeaten on 53, after India had threatened a fightback with England at 302 for 5.

The bulk of England's work, however, had been done across the first two sessions, and Duckett was named Player of the Match for his scores of 62 in the first innings and a brilliant 149 from 170 balls in the second, an effort that spanned the first 55 overs of their chase.

"It was unbelievable," Stokes said at the post-match presentations. "Unless you're involved in it, [it's hard to know] the pressure of the fourth innings, going out there. Opening the batting is hard enough, especially in England. So that partnership that Zak and Ben got us off to was just incredible.

"Those two complement each other so well. Obviously, Ducky got the big score that contributed towards us winning this game. But I thought the way that Zak was able to stay composed, and stay in the moment, and sense that Ducky was getting off to the flyer [was crucial]."

Despite England's recent reputation for aggression from the get-go, the pair took a more measured approach to this latest chase. Faced with the dangerous Jasprit Bumrah in gloomy morning conditions, they set themselves to build a platform through the morning session, and it was only when the change bowlers, Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur, entered the attack that Duckett accelerated through to a 66-ball half-century.

"In that period, it was really important that me and Zak got through without losing any wickets," Duckett said at the presentations. "It was pretty clear to us this morning. If we batted for the whole day [at the tempo that] we normally do, we'd probably get the total, so we didn't overthink anything. Certainly we had to get through Jasprit's first spell and that new ball, and from there on, we were just playing our natural games.

"He's a world-class bowler," Duckett added, after England had denied Bumrah any wickets in the second innings, despite his brilliant five-for in the first.

"In that first innings, he was superb, so to limit his damage was massive for us. Our individuals are all going to go about it differently, but I thought we did play him very well today."

Despite the flourish with which they finished the Test, Duckett acknowledged that England "had been completely behind the eight-ball" at certain periods of the game, thanks to Bumrah's brilliance as well as a total of five individual Indian centuries, including one in each innings for wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.

However, Stokes was especially pleased with the spirit in adversity that his team showed, and singled out Josh Tongue's key helpings of "rabbit-pie" in each innings, with his seven wickets helping to restrict India to 7 for 41 in the first innings, and 7 for 73 in the second.

"There's been a lot of skill that's contributed towards us winning this Test match," Stokes said, "but also the attitude that the team has showed towards this game.

"We've been in the field for long periods of time twice throughout this game, but I thought every session we turned up with the attitude that we could blow this game open at any point. We always knew that we were only a couple wickets away from running through the pack, and Josh Tongue's spells in both innings were massively game-changing."

England's five-wicket victory was their sixth in a row at Headingley, dating back to 2018, and on each occasion they had bowled first.

On this occasion, Stokes' decision at the toss had looked like back-firing, with former England captain Michael Vaughan saying he was "staggered" at India being given first use after they finished the opening day on 359 for 3. Stokes, however, insisted that at no point had he second-guessed his call.

"You don't know what's going to happen before a ball is bowled, you've got to go with what you think is going to give you the best chance of winning the game," he said. "The wicket here on day one looked like there was a bit of grass on top of it. There was a bit of moisture underneath it.

"We backed ourselves to win that toss and bowl first, and try and strike a couple of early poles. But the opposition is allowed to play well. This is international-level cricket, where the quality of players on either side are very good. We bowled pretty well on that first session. But India played incredible."