Tea, Headingley – England 465 & 269-4 (Duckett 149, Crawley 65; Thakur 2-28) need 371 to beat India 471 & 364
Shardul Thakur, quiet for most of the match, found a timely burst just before tea to leave this first Test hanging. England still look favourites, but India’s seamer removed Ben Duckett and Harry Brook with successive balls, trimming the hosts to 269 for four. The target remains 371; 102 more runs are needed.
Until Thakur’s intervention, England’s mood had been relaxed. Duckett and Zak Crawley batted through the morning, adding 71 brisk runs to push England towards another Headingley chase. Duckett, busy as ever on the cut and sweep, reached his sixth Test hundred from 121 balls. He had a slice of luck on 97 when Yashasvi Jaiswal spilled a straightforward chance on the square-leg rope – Jaiswal’s third drop in the match – and the left-hander celebrated with an airy punch of the Leeds sky.
Rain briefly interrupted play. Crawley resumed by pulling Prasidh Krishna to the long-on boundary but nicked the next delivery to second slip for 65. Ollie Pope, England’s first-innings centurion, chopped the same bowler on to his stumps soon after. Duckett, though, kept moving. His boldest stroke was a reverse-slapped six off Ravindra Jadeja that sailed over extra cover and into the Western Terrace.
Shubman Gill, captaining while Rohit Sharma nursed a sore knee, tossed the ball to Thakur just before the interval. The first delivery, a wide half-volley, should have disappeared; Duckett instead flayed it straight to substitute Nitish Kumar Reddy at extra cover for 149. Next ball, Brook feathered a leg-side freebie to Rishabh Pant, becoming just the fifth player to record 99 and 0 in the same Test.
“Two ordinary balls, two wickets – that’s Test cricket,” observed former India coach Ravi Shastri on television commentary.
Ben Stokes survived a nervy start against Jadeja, missing consecutive reverse-sweeps. Gill gambled on a review for a bat-pad catch; replays showed the ball struck Stokes on the biceps. The England captain and Joe Root will resume after tea, aware that one more clump of wickets could yet tilt the contest.
“It’s still in our hands,” said England batting coach Marcus Trescothick during the interval. “The message is the same – keep the tempo, trust your options.”
India, 1-0 down in the series, cling to the belief that overcast skies and a worn surface might provide enough assistance. As Shastri added, “A couple of early breakthroughs, and suddenly you’re chasing 30-odd with the tail – anything can happen.”
For now, though, England remain within touching distance of a target that looked distant when India declared late on the fourth evening. Another Headingley chase beckons; the final session promises tension rather than comfort.
