England vs India 1st Test: England defeated India by 5 wickets in the first Test at Leeds on Tuesday. On the back of a thrilling run chase on the final day, England took a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series.
Jamie Smith hit the winning runs, smashing a remarkable six off Ravindra Jadeja to help England chase down the 371-run target in 82 overs in their second innings. This is the second-highest successful run chase at Headingley in Test history. Smith remained unbeaten on 44 runs off 55 deliveries, hitting six boundaries. Jadeja was hit for 18 runs in the final over of the match. Joe Root also played a big hand as he scored a crucial fifty in the tricky situation. Root and Smith stitched a 71-run partnership for the sixth wicket and took the hosts over the line comfortably.
England resumed their run chase from 21/0 with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett at the crease, and there were concerns regarding the weather conditions as well.
However, it was just in their hands to keep things going as the openers made a huge struggle for the Indian bowlers to settle with their line and length. While Crawley played a crucial knock of 65 runs with the help of seven boundaries. Duckett went on to smash a memorable century. He scored 149 runs, hitting 21 fours and a six. The duo stitched a 188-run opening stand, almost taking the visitors out of the game. The foundation was laid for the hosts, but India bounced back with a couple of wickets each from Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur.
England were fortunate enough to overcome the scares as India missed multiple important chances, putting up a disappointing effort in the field in both innings.
Ravindra Jadeja raised some hopes again with the wicket of England skipper Ben Stokes (33), but the damage was done before Root and Smith finished things off in style.
India had five centurions in the Test match, with Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Shubman Gill putting up a show with the bat. Jasprit Bumrah made an impact in the first innings with a five-wicket haul, but it was the lack of support that turned out to be a huge difference in the game.