India walked away from Headingley wondering how a match that had seemed firmly under their control slipped through their fingers. England’s successful pursuit of 371 – their second-highest fourth-innings chase – has handed the hosts a 1-0 lead in the new Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
Shubman Gill put the defeat down to two familiar failings: lower-order collapses and wayward fielding. “I think yesterday we were thinking that we’re going to give [a target of] around 430, 435 and then declare,” the India captain admitted afterwards. “But unfortunately, I think our last six wickets scored around 20-25 [31] runs, which is never a good sign.”
Those late-innings stumbles occurred twice. In the first dig, India shed seven wickets for 41; in the second they lost six for 31. Instead of batting England out of the contest, they left a gettable target and, crucially, time on a wearing surface.
England still needed someone to grasp the chase. Ben Duckett obliged, hammering 149 from 170 balls. He was reprieved twice – both straightforward chances – and capitalised with 19 boundaries and a six. India shelled seven opportunities across the match, two of them off Duckett. “Chances don’t come easy, especially on wickets like these, and we dropped quite a few catches,” Gill conceded. “But I think we have got a young team, still a learning one and hopefully, in the next matches, we’ll be able to improve on those aspects.”
For long periods on the final afternoon it looked as though Ravindra Jadeja might still wrest control. Bowling into a widening rough, he induced several bat-pad chances and removed Ben Stokes, yet finished with 1 for 104 from 24 overs. Gill felt his left-arm spinner deserved more. “He bowled brilliantly. I think he did produce some chances for us,” the skipper said. “A few pop-ups, you know, that Rishabh didn’t see. But that happens in a game of cricket.”
From England’s perspective, Duckett’s aggression set the tone. Zak Crawley chipped in with 83, the openers putting on 212 in 39 overs and leaving a tiring Indian attack no room for error. Once the platform was built, Ollie Pope and Joe Root eased England home with an unbeaten 97-run stand.
The visitors will look back at the morning of day four as the pivotal spell: from 333 for 4 – a lead of 340 with Gill and Rishabh Pant settled – they lost 6 for 31 in barely an hour. England’s short-ball ploy worked, though India’s attempts to hit their way clear of danger played into it.
“It’s one of those things that we have to rectify in the upcoming matches,” Gill noted, sounding more reflective than frustrated. The series moves to Lord’s next week, where India must find a sturdier finish with the bat and safer hands in the cordon if they are to level matters.
