Ben Duckett hits incredible 149 as England reach 371 target in first Test win over India at Headingley
By Rhys Jones
Updated 25/06/2025 at 15:03 GMT+1
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Ben Duckett produced one of the great Test centuries as he hit an incredible 149 to inspire England to a target of 371, and victory over India on the final day of the first Test at Headingley. The hosts pulled off their second-highest Test pursuit on Tuesday to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Duckett was named Player of the Match after laying the foundation for the victory.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
Ben Duckett hit an incredible 149 to lead England to a target of 371, as they beat India in a classic Headingley Test match.
England won by five wickets, with their incredible chase seeing them take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
It was England's second-highest successful pursuit, with only their 378 to defeat India at Edgbaston three years ago beating it.
Duckett was deservedly named as Player of the Match after scores of 62 and 149, and spoke after completing the victory.
"To go into day five and have a finish like we did, it's incredible," the 30-year-old said.
"Just to get through that period, it was really important that me and Zak (Crawley) got through last night without losing any wickets.
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"We felt like if we batted for the whole day, like we normally do, we'd probably get the total.
"We didn't overthink anything, certainly getting through Jasprit (Bumrah)'s first spell and then just playing our natural games."
Duckett and Zak Crawley managed to see off India's Jasprit Bumrah, who went wicketless during England's chase. Duckett and Crawley's partnership provided 188 in 42.2 overs.
"We saw it last month against Zimbabwe," Duckett said about Crawley's performance.
"The way he played and how calm he is. Just waiting for bad balls to be hit today and respecting it when they bowled well."
Speaking about Bumrah's threat, he said: "He's a world-class bowler. In that first innings, he was superb. To limit his damage was massive for us.
"Individuals are all going to go about it differently, and I thought we did play him very well today."
England were still four wickets down and 118 adrift, however, and then still needed 69 when Ben Stokes was dismissed.
But Jamie Smith and Joe Root saw them over the line in the final hour. Root was unbeaten on 53, while Smith delivered an unbeaten 44.
"If India take a couple of wickets it's a completely different game. But we try and stay calm in different situations," Duckett added.
"When you've got Joe Root out in the middle it's fairly easy to stay calm.
"I always believed he was going to get us over the line and the likes of Jamie Smith out there soaking up the pressure at the start of his innings, and then playing with freedom at the end to get us over the line was amazing."
WASTEFUL INDIA FAILED TO 'KILL GAME'
India captain Shubman Gill admitted that India failed to kill the game when they had the chance.
The visitors were overly wasteful, dropping a total of six catches, while they surrendered seven wickets for 41 runs in their first innings and six for 31 in their second.
"A tough one," said India captain Shubman Gill. "We had our moments on top, but England are so good and we needed to kill the game when we had the chance.
"He (Rishabh Pant) was brilliant. Our top five were brilliant. We still have a young team and a few catches didn't go our way so that's where the game slipped away.
"Going into this game we thought the wicket would offer more than when we played at Edgbaston."
India have said that Bumrah may play a limited role in the series, but Gill noted he "should be fine" for next week's second Test at Edgbaston.
"He is fine. We will see closer to the next Test, but he should be fine," Gill added.
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