- England beat India by five wickets in a thriller of a first Test of the summer series
- A number of players stood out for the hosts – particularly in the batting order
- Others, though, struggled to perform as the bowlers produced a mixed return
England secured one of their greatest Test victories on Tuesday, with Jamie Smith belting the winning runs for Ben Stokes’ side as they got one over on India.
In another Headingley stunner, England had been set 371 runs to win the first Test of five over this summer – which are essentially warm-ups for the Ashes.
After a curious decision to put India in, Stokes’ side started slow, but chipped away before setting up a one-innings shootout with the bat. India again appeared comfortable, and had hoped their bowling megastar Jasprit Bumrah could lead the way with the ball.
Try and he did, though, it wasn’t enough. A Ben Duckett century paved the way, with Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Stokes and Smith all chipping in to secure a classy win.
But who put in their best performance yet? Who was England’s best bowler? And whose performance was a cause for worry for the hosts?
Mail Sport’s Richard Gibson was at Headingley to rate the players.
England
Zak Crawley – 6
Outclassed by a devilish delivery from Jasprit Bumrah in the first innings, his disciplined response on day five set up another epic chase.
Ben Duckett – 9.5
Quite simply the best performance yet in what is becoming an extremely accomplished international career.
Ollie Pope – 8.5
Built on his performance against Zimbabwe, making it back-to-back hundreds and booking himself a summer as England’s No 3 in the process.
Joe Root – 7.5
Batted with calm authority to guide the team home following a soft dismissal by his standards first time around.
Harry Brook – 8
Could have bagged a pair on his home ground but for a Bumrah no-ball and England were grateful for it, an instinctive innings of 99 altering the momentum on day three.
Ben Stokes – 7.5
Was frustrated to find ways of getting out twice when set but was England’s best bowler in a pleasing sign at the start of a 10-match stretch that will define his captaincy.
Jamie Smith – 7
A lack of wicketkeeping so far this summer might have contributed to his missed stumping; two fluent 40s with the bat.
Chris Woakes – 5
Returned the second-worst home bowling figures of his Test career, but a useful contribution with the bat kept India to a minimal first-innings lead.
Brydon Carse – 7
A solid first Test on English soil in which his second-innings figures didn’t reflect the quality of his new-ball spell.
Josh Tongue – 7
Can look innocuous at times, but his ability to blitz the tail – three wickets in 10 balls in the first innings followed by three in four in the second – is becomingly an increasingly potent weapon. 7
Shoaib Bashir – 5
India milked him in what might be a worryingly glimpse of things to come this year and his wickets came from Indian rushes of blood.
India
Jaiswal 8, Rahul 9, Sudharsan 3, Gill 8, Pant 9.5, Nair 3, Jadeja 4, Thakur 3, Siraj 5.5, Bumrah 9, Krishna 5
