England pull off stunning win against India

Headingley has become the home of the run chase, and England hauled in a target of 371 to prove it. Set up by Ben Duckett’s dazzling 149 and sealed with a six by Jamie Smith, they romped home in just 82 overs to secure a sixth consecutive win in Leeds—all while bowling first—and to take a 1-0 lead in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
The result brought relief for Ben Stokes after choosing to field first on Friday morning, while India were left to rue countless missed opportunities. Despite hitting five centuries to England’s two, India’s lower-order collapses of 7 for 41 and 6 for 31, along with six dropped catches, proved costly.
It was a tough start to a new era under captain Shubman Gill, whose sparkling first-innings century was long forgotten by the end. India have now lost seven of their last nine Tests, and may only have Jasprit Bumrah available for two of the remaining four on the England tour. Bumrah, dominant in Australia with 32 wickets, was ineffective in the second innings after his first-innings five-for and went wicketless in the chase.
Duckett and Zak Crawley (188-run opening stand in 42.2 overs) laid the foundation, with Duckett reverse-sweeping Ravindra Jadeja and punishing Prasidh Krishna, whose economy rate of 6.28 became the most expensive in India’s Test history.
England stumbled briefly in the afternoon as Prasidh and Shardul Thakur struck in quick succession. Duckett fell on 149, followed immediately by Harry Brook. But Joe Root (unbeaten on 53) and Jamie Smith (44*) steadied the ship. Smith smashed Jadeja for 18 runs in an over, including two sixes, to carry England to victory with 14 overs remaining.
Earlier, Duckett survived an edge through the slips and was dropped on 97 by Yashasvi Jaiswal—his third miss of the match. Duckett calmly reached his sixth Test century and first in the second innings with a reverse sweep for four.
Prasidh removed Crawley and Ollie Pope in quick succession, but Duckett continued to score fluently, launching Jadeja for a six over cover-point. His eventual dismissal and Brook’s immediate exit gave India hope, but Stokes and Root added 49 before Stokes top-edged a reverse sweep.
Smith then joined Root, determined after an earlier failure, and guided England home in an unbroken stand of 71. Their calm finish followed a nervy run chase against Sri Lanka in Manchester last year, and this time, they saw it through with clinical precision.
Some of Gill’s captaincy decisions came under scrutiny—Siraj was unused between overs 41 and 81, and Bumrah did not bowl in the final 17. With Bumrah limited to three Tests in this series, India’s bowling depth appears stretched.
The outcome validated Stokes’ decision at the toss. Five of the last seven Headingley Tests have now been won by teams chasing 250 or more in the fourth innings. While not quite the white-knuckle ride of the 2019 Ashes, this was a commanding, balanced England performance—evidence of a more mature and complete approach. (ESPNcrickinfo)