Opener Ben Duckett smashed an 88-ball hundred to lead England’s robust reply to India’s first innings total of 445 on day two of the third Test in Rajkot on Friday. Ben Duckett‘s 133 not out off 118 balls, which contained two sixes and 21 fours, powered England to 207-2 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Ravichandran Ashwin became the second Indian bowler, after Anil Kumble, to claim 500 Test wickets but it was otherwise a day of hard toil for India as England scored nearly at a run-a-ball rate.
Ravichandran Ashwin had almost sealed Ben Duckett’s Test career when the left-handed batsman last visited India during England’s tour in 2016. Ben Duckett had looked clueless before Ashwin here in Rajkot and also in Visakhapatnam, as the off-spinner had dismissed him on all three occasions in that series.
Ashwin again hogged the limelight on Friday at the Niranjan Shah Stadium by taking his Test tally of wickets to 500. But the man who stole the show on Day 2 of the third Test is none other than Duckett (133 batting) with his fearless century, which took England to 207/2 at stumps in response to India’s formidable 445.
Wherever Rohit Sharma put the fielder, Ben Duckett hit where they weren’t- Alastair Cook
Former England captain Alastair Cook praised opener Ben Duckett for his incredible knock on Day 2 of the third Test against India at Rajkot on February 16.
The 29-year-old swept and reverse-swept his way to a third Test century, finishing the day at 133* off 118 deliveries with 21 boundaries and two maximums. The opener’s batting left the Indian bowlers stunned, with even their trio of spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav, conceding runs aplenty.
Cook was amazed by Duckett’s ability to play a variety of sweeps at will against even Ashwin, who earlier picked up his 500th wicket. He said on TNT Sports at stumps on Day 2:
“Duckett has made a guy with 500 Test wickets [Ashwin] not know where to bowl. It has been extraordinary. The amount of skill you need to play those sweeps, it was out of this world. Wherever they put the fielder, he hit where they weren’t.
“I’d love to know how he does it. Is he picking an area and it goes there regardless, or is it more sophisticated than that?”
The southpaw reached his century off a mere 88 deliveries as England scored at almost six runs an over to reach 207/2 at the end of the second day. Earlier in the day, the hosts ended their first innings with a formidable total of 445. Centuries from Rohit Sharma (131) and Ravindra Jadeja (112) bailed them out of early trouble.
Should he keep up that streak until tea on Day 3, England might expect to have a lead. Even with Joe Root at the other end, desperate to arrest his slump, and with an equally hungry Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes to come, Ben Duckett continuing this rampage is England’s best hope of keeping a win on the table. Few could have produced an innings like this, and fewer still have the capacity to do it all over again on day three, and turn it into a truly once-in-a-lifetime event.