Ben Duckett scored a knock of 149 against India as England chased down 371 against India in the 2025 Leeds Test to help the hosts seal a five-wicket win in what is the Ben Stokes-led team’s second-highest run-chase in history. Ben Duckett put up a 188-run partnership with Zak Crawley, which is the highest opening partnership in the fourth innings of a Test match against India.
England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley shattered multiple records during their 188-run stand on Day 5 of the 1st Test against India in Leeds. It is the highest opening partnership in the 4th innings of a Test against India. It is also highest opening partnership in the 4th innings at Headingley, and the second highest overall for England. Their partnership was broken by Prasidh Krishna in the 43rd over, after Crawley edged one to first slip.
Ben Duckett’s epic 149 steers England to historic win at Headingly Leeds
In the series opener between India and England, Ben Duckett took the mantle of weathering the early threat from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to provide an ideal platform for England to dominate the proceedings. Ben Duckett hammered 62 in the first innings and then powered his way to a blistering century before it started raining cats in Leeds.
In the first innings, Ben Duckett maintained England’s healthy scoring rate with his composed 62(94), laced with nine boundaries, before Bumrah rattled the timber to punch his return ticket. Ben Duckett continued to torment India Test captain Shubman Gill and his troops with his malicious intent. He ensured the tourists continued to endure a torrid time on the field with his smorgasbord strokeplay.
The explosive southpaw continued to pile runs on the board swiftly and moved into the 90s within the blink of an eye. Ben Duckett attempted to bring up his century in style by pulling the ball away. He took the aerial route but dispatched it straight towards Yashasvi Jaiswal.
The young southpaw, guilty of spilling three chances in the first innings, was culpable yet again. With eyes fixated on the ball, Jaiswal positioned himself but floored it, allowing Duckett to enjoy an unprecedented lifeline on 98, leaving Siraj completely dismayed. He made the most of the second opportunity and pulled out a reverse sweep from his loaded arsenal to send the ball racing past the boundary rope for a four. Ben Duckett leapt in the air and punched his fist in jubilation under the cloudy sky of Headingley.
As Ben Duckett experienced euphoria, this was the first century by an England opening batter in the fourth innings of a Test since Cook’s unbeaten 109 against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2010. His unbeaten ton is also his first second-innings century.
After his heroics in the Headingley Test, former England cricketer David Lloyd compared Ben Duckett to Virender Sehwag. Duckett was the star of the show as England won the match by five wickets. Also David Llyod was in full praise for the English opener while predicting a 5-0 scoreline in the series for England.
England cricketer David Llyod praises Ben Duckett’s heroic innings predicting 5-0 scoreline for England.
Former England player David Lloyd believes that a whitewash for Ben Stokes and co. in the Test series against India is completely plausible based on how the recent series opener at Headingley, Leeds, turned out. The hosts pulled off yet another mammoth run chase and capitalised on the visitors’ mistakes to etch a historic five-wicket win, and claim an early series lead.
Ahead of the series, the majority of the pundits backed England to secure the series due to their established squad and command over the conditions. Despite backing the Ben Stokes-led side as winners, the general consensus was that it would be a tightly contested series. The first Test was arguably an even contest for the majority of its course, especially when India were cruising in the first innings, and marching on with the lead at the second time of asking.
David Lloyd, however, feels that unless rain forces one of the matches to be a draw, England will emerge as runaway winners of the series.
“I want to change mine (prediction) to 5-0. No, I’ll stay with 4-0, because you never know with rain. They could not catch,” Lloyd said on Stick to Cricket podcast.
Team India have been competitive across their last couple of tours to England in 2018 and 2021-2, the latter being a drawn series. The Men in Blue, however, faced a 0-4 series whitewash when they toured the country in 2011. The Shubman Gill-led side have a lot of unanswered questions in the early stages of the series itself. Their questionable fielding, lack of input by the support bowlers, and team combination are the areas needed to be addressed if they wish to mount a strong comeback in the series.
David Lloyd shed praise on England opening batter Ben Duckett for his heroics in the series opener. The left-handed batter is bound to be a thorn in India’s side for the remainder of the series as well, and the hosts need him to step up, if they wish to dominate the summer.
“Ben Duckett has come a long way since he poured a drink over Jimmy Anderson on an Ashes tour. He is now England’s answer to Virender Sehwag and opening the batting in your World XI. The reverse sweep is such a natural shot for him. He plays it for fun. It’s no surprise to learn he was a good hockey player at school because it’s like a hockey shot,” Lloyd wrote in his column for the Daily Mail
Virender Sehwag was known for his fearless batting style, especially against England. One of his most memorable innings came in 2008 in Chennai, when he scored 86 off 68 balls, which helped India chase 387 runs. In 17 Tests against England, Sehwag scored 821 runs at a strike-rate of 75.39 and hit two hundreds and four fifties.
At Headingley, England played with remarkable belief and intent in their win over India, showcasing a fearless and smart approach throughout the match. This was especially evident in Ben Duckett’s knock, when he played against Jasprit Bumrah. Duckett, who has played 34 Test matches so far, has already started making his mark as one of the most destructive openers in world cricket as he scored 2621 runs in 34 matches, at an average of 43.68.
Ben Duckett was adjudged as the Player Of The Match for his match-winning knock. India and England will face-off in the second Test, starting from July 2 at Edgbaston with India hoping to rectify the mistakes made in the match and comeback stronger in the series which England is currently leading 1-0.
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