India pay the price for fielding errors as England make history with comeback win

We were promised a thrilling final day and Headingley delivered, and while history will record this game as a five-wicket England win , that doesn’t even come close to telling the whole story.

This was a game of swashbuckling centuries, calamitous collapses and a mouth-watering taste of the series that now spreads out in front of us.

Stokes’ toss gamble pays off

He will claim that the only thing he cares about is the England win, but you’d imagine Ben Stokes might allow himself a little moment of extra satisfaction – his much-maligned decision at the toss, designed expressly to set England up for a fourth innings chase, proved to be the right one. The winning streak for teams bowling first at Headingley continues.

England owe much of their final day heist to their superb opening partnership, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett put on 188 priceless runs together – setting the sturdy foundations that meant England’s chase could survive the inevitable wobble to come.

Their stand was the fifth-best fourth innings partnership of all time, perhaps its most impressive feature was how it played so much against the existing type that the pair have established. Crawley and Duckett have excelled as an opening duo because of how they attack the new ball – the pair score at more than 5 an over together. Here, though they were more cautious, recognising the great threat posed by Jasprit Bumrah and reacting accordingly.

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England’s first 50 runs came at just over 3 an over, but crucially without a wicket – indeed Bumrah would finish the innings wicketless, handled with extreme caution by a team who felt they could exploit weaknesses elsewhere.

Duckett delivers masterclass

It was Duckett, though, who was the star for England, the rightful player of the match after his sparkling 149. Perhaps his most impressive feat was the way he tormented Ravi Jadeja, reverse sweeping time and time again to throw him off his game and almost totally nullify the threat he posed. When Duckett fell, England were soon all too aware of how dangerous Jadeja could be. He was unfortunate to only finish with the wicket of Stokes.

Duckett incidentally now averages more than Alastair Cook, has become a dependable force for England at opener and is staking a claim to being one of the best three-format cricketers in the world game.

Dropped chances and twin collapses cost India dearly

India may well look back at this game and wonder how on earth they let it slip from their grasp – positions of 430/3 and 333/4 should be almost unloseable and yet that is what the tourists did. Collapses in both innings saw their lower order brushed aside with ease – this Test is the first in history where a side with five centurions has gone on to lose the game.

Batting collapses aside, India were sloppy in the field. At least six crucial catches were shelled that let England off the hook time and time again. Sure, the hosts rode their luck at times, but they were allowed to by elementary mistakes from this Indian side.

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Historic chase for England

Still, this was a hugely impressive achievement by England, the highest run chase in Headingley history, the tenth highest of all time, and a handy marker laid down at the beginning of a five-match series that this is a team that will not be going quietly into the night.

Attention now turns to the second Test at Edgbaston, you’d imagine there will be changes to the makeup of this Indian side, although what is almost certain is that we are in for another thrilling contest.