Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand), Paul Reiffel (Australia), Sharfuddoula (Bangladesh, TV)
Referee
Richie Richardson (West Indies)
Toss
England elected to bowl
Pitch Report
When you're here, you don't look down (at the pitch), you look up (at the sky). The batting was slightly harder with the clouds rolling in yesterday, and it could be the same here today as well. You will have to bowl fuller, take your catches, which India haven't done so far, and back Jasprit Bumrah
VENUE STATS
1st Innings
303Avg Runs
10Avg Wkts
52.63Avg
SR
2nd Innings
308Avg Runs
10Avg Wkts
52.49Avg
SR
3rd Innings
251Avg Runs
9Avg Wkts
52.06Avg
SR
4th Innings
177Avg Runs
6Avg Wkts
51.97Avg
SR
Weather Update
Weather Update
Leeds,England
Updated: 24 Jun 23:00
19.9°CClouds
98%
Clouds
0%
Rain %
16.8 kmph
Wind
Playing XILineups Out
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Small League Team
J Root
S Gill
Grand League Team
J Bumrah
O Pope
Venue Details
Headingley, Leeds
When you're here, you don't look down (at the pitch), you look up (at the sky). The batting was slightly harder with the clouds rolling in yesterday, and it could be the same here today as well. You will have to bowl fuller, take your catches, which India haven't done so far, and back Jasprit Bumrah
The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
Five enthralling days of Test cricket. The fact that we went into the final session on Day 5 with all possibilities still intact is a testimony to how well-matched the two teams were over the entire week. There were several moments for both sides that will linger on in the memories of the fans for long. But the bottom line is that England have won the first match and taken a crucial 1-0 lead in this series of five.
There is a week's time before the second Test gets underway at the Edgbaston in Birmingham. India will have to address a few issues. On the other hand, the hosts will know that they cannot be complacent. After all, a few catches here or there and we could have seen a different result altogether.
On that note, it is time for us to say goodbye. We hope you enjoyed the coverage and will join us again on Wednesday, July 2 for the next chapter of this sage. For now, it is Darpan and Pradeep signing off on the behalf of the entire team.
Ben Stokes [England captain]: "We have got some good memories here over the last few years. Awesome Test match. To go down to the final session and chase it down, it is pretty special. (On the decision to bowl first) Test cricket is played over 5 days. We were trying to think about what will give us the best chance to win the game. There was some grass on the wicket and moisture underneath. We wanted to knock over a couple of poles early. But I thought India bowled really well.
(On the opening partnership today) Unbelievable. That partnership between Zak (Crawley) and Ben (Duckett) got us off to an incredible start. It set us up brilliantly. ben obviously got a big score. But those 60-70 runs from Zak were just as important. No doubt that chasing down totals give you confidence as a team. It has been a great start for the series but we have four more tough games coming up. A lot of skill has contributed to us winning the Test match. But also the attitude that the team showed. We always knew we were a couple of wickets away from running through the Indian batting. Josh Tongue's spell in both the innings was important."
Shubman Gill [India captain]: "Brilliant test match, we were in the game for the most part. Few dropped catches, our lower order didn't contribute, but really proud of the boys and the efforts put in this test. Yesterday we were thinking about 430 or 440, but our last six wickets scored only 30 or 40 odd runs. Even today, we had chance, but things just didn't go our way. We spoke about the first innings collapse, when you were out it in the middle, it happens, one of the things we need to rectify in the upcoming games. Chances don't come easy, especially on wickets like this, dropped quite a few but hopefully looking to improve. Not really, first session we were spot on. Didn't give away much runs, it's hard to stop once the ball becomes old. We needed to keep picking up wickets, they batted well and the opening partnership took the game away from us. Jadeja bowled brilliantly, he did produced chances. You expect that some chance don't go your way. It's more game by game, we have a good break after this test. We will think about it. "
Ben Duckett is the Player of the Match! Here's what he has to say: "I'm not sure to be honest, just incredible game to be part of. India were superb. To go into day 5, the way we finished, it's just incredible. First of all to get through that period, go through without losing any wickets. Felt like we batted the whole day, we would get to the total. Certainly went past the Jasprit's first spell and it became easy. I wasn't there then, I'm not sure. The guys in the dressing room do believe. Showing maturity at times from everyone was incredible, and how much it means to win. At times, we were completely behind the eighth ball. India dominated us, but our bowlers did well to clean up the tail. That changed things completely in favour of us. Crawley did, we saw last month against Zimbabwe as well. The way he plays and how calm he is. He waited for the bad balls and punished. Bumrah is a world class bowler, in the first innings, he was superb. To limit his damage was massive for us, and I did feel we played him well today. It was difficult, spinning out of the turf and it's a shot I go to a lot. Jadeja bowled well, to us left-handers it was tough. Towards the end, the start of the partnership if India had taken couple of wickets. We stayed calm, when you got Root in the middle, it's fairly easy to remain calm. Smith went out there and played the way that he did, got us over the line."
6:28 PM local time, 10:58 PM IST | England win by 5 wickets and take a 1-0 lead.
The air at Headingley crackles with thunderous cheers and loud applause from the England supporters. The home team has registered a win that will linger on in their memories for a while to come. Perhaps, it is the comfortable manner with which they cross the finishing line that makes this victory special. Not many would have imagined that given how Day 1 of this Test match panned out. Remember that? Ben Stokes made the decision to bowl first and the visitors were 359/3 at the end of the day.
Shubman Gill scored a hundred on captaincy debut. Yashasvi Jaiswal notched up one in his first Test in England. Rishabh Pant scored a century each in both innings. KL Rahul joined the party too in the second innings with a high quality ton. And despite five tons, India end up on the losing side. Of course, the bowling and the contribution of the lower order will come under scrutiny. But is the catches that they put down that will hurt them the most — 7 of them in this game. Who knows how different the result would have been had they held on?
Talking of hundreds, the one that will be remembered the most will be the one scored today. At no point did Ben Duckett doubt that he and his team could chase the target down. Even though, a score of 371 or bigger had only been achieved twice before in 125 years of Test cricket at this venue. He was watchful against Bumrah, but usually pugnacious and effervescent against others. He hung on the backfoot for the major part, attempted the odd ramp and definitely wasn't afraid to unfurls the reverse sweep every now and then. It was him and Zak Crawley who set it up for England at the top. Both were cautious in the first hour but positive against the second line of the Indian attack. To be fair, Krishna and Thakur did provide them with run-scoring opportunities too, but you still have to make the most of them.
Funny enough, the aforementioned bowlers were the only seamers who got wickets. Siraj and Bumrah bowled seemingly better but were luck-less for the large part. Eventually, Joe Root's sturdy fifty and Jamie Smith's sparkling knock of 44* took the hosts over the line.
Special mention to Ollie Pope — who scored his 9th Test ton in the first innings — Harry Brook, — who fell one run short of his century —and skipper Ben Stokes, who seemed to make things happen every time he got the ball in hand.
82
overs
373/5score
0
4
6
0
2
6
runs
Jamie Smith*
44(55)
Joe Root
53(84)
Ravindra Jadeja
1/104
81.6 Ravindra Jadeja to Jamie Smith, SIX! GAME, SET AND MATCH! That's a thumping win for England, they go 1-0 up in the series with that. Length delivery on the stumps, Smith sits on one knee, picked the bones out of that one as he pummeled it over deep mid-wicket and finishes in style.
81.5 Ravindra Jadeja to Jamie Smith, fires full on the leg-stump, Smith whacked it through mid-wicket. Bumrah gest around and keeps them for a couple.
81.4 Ravindra Jadeja to Jamie Smith, spears the length delivery on off-stump, Smith blocks it by coming forward.
Only 6 runs away now.
Raj Royal: "If India converted half of the drop chances across both innings then India would have registered a win by now." Touché, Raj!
81.3 Ravindra Jadeja to Jamie Smith, SIX! BAM! Smith is in a hurry to wrap this up here. Length delivery on the leg-stump, Smith sits on one knee and clobbered it way over deep square-leg for a maximum.
81.2 Ravindra Jadeja to Jamie Smith, FOUR! SHOT! Aggression from Smith, brings up the boundary. Length delivery on middle and leg, Smith went for the wild hack, doesn't quite get hold of it but the result matters, past mid-wicket.
81.1 Ravindra Jadeja to Jamie Smith, length delivery on the leg-stump. Smith comes forward and defends.
Sohan: "No Bumrah with new ball, India isn't even trying..." Well, well, well...!
Interestingly, they continue with Jadeja.
Sumit Verma: "You have to feel for Siraj, brilliant bowling still wicketless." Indeed, Sumit
Correction on an earlier statement — 75 overs for the day are done now. Hence, the final hour begins now. 15 overs to be bowled. Doesn't look like we will need as many.
The crowd rises to applaud Joe Root's half-century. He has once again stood firm, like a rock. And that will also be time for the final drinks break of the match.
Video
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J Root
S Gill
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Jamie Smith
*
Ravindra Jadeja
Headingley, Leeds
