India entertain, but England win Headingley Test to lead series 1-0

Indian batters scored three centuries more than the English throughout the first Test at Headingley, but it did not matter in the end. England chased down a target of 371 runs with five wickets and some daylight to spare, thanks to a steady accumulation of runs across the board, notably from the middle order and beneath.

England's best active second innings batter, Joe Root, remained unbeaten on 53 alongside Jamie Smith (44), who finished things off in style -- hammering Ravindra Jadeja for 18 in an over. 

The hosts began the day brighter, with Ben Duckett (149) and Zak Crawley (65) adding 188 for the first wicket. Post-lunch, India found a glimmer of hope as four wickets fell. But England survived their mid-innings crisis, first with a 49-run stand between Root and skipper Ben Stokes (33), then an unbeaten 71-run partnership till the end.

A total of 1,673 runs were scored by both teams, with at least a century each day. But it was England's ability to bat deep on the batter-friendly surface that proved the difference.

On day five, the weather was mostly nice, barring the occasional rain delay. Duckett and Crawley took England to 117/0 at lunch. Crawley was the first to fall when he nicked a good-length delivery from Prasidh Krishna that swung away.

First innings centurion Ollie Pope could only make 8 after a Krishna inswinger took the bails off. All the while, Duckett (149) played on at the other end until Shardul Thakur struck with a full and wide delivery that wasn't intended to pick a wicket but tempted the set English opener into a drive, only to be caught at cover.

Then came India's best moment on the final day when Thakur got Harry Brook first ball, giving himself a rare hat-trick chance and, more importantly, putting England on the back foot for the first time in the innings. But that was merely an illusion because the English persisted. Across both innings, England made 260 runs after losing their fifth wicket, while India's lower middle order accounted for a mere 55.

Brief scores: India 471 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 101, Shubman Gill 147, Rishabh Pant 134, Ben Stokes 4/66, Josh Tongue 4/86)  & 364 (KL Rahul 137, Pant 118, Ravindra Jadeja 25, Tongue 3/72, Brydon Carse 3/80, Shoaib Bashir 2/90) lost to England 465 (Ollie Pope 106, Harry Brook 99, Ben Duckett 62, Jamie Smith 40, Chris Woakes 38, Joe Root 28, Jasprit Bumrah 5/83, Prasidh Krishna 3/128, Mohammed Siraj 2/122) & 373/5 in 82 overs (Duckett 149, Crawley 65, Joe Root 53 not out, Jamie Smith 44 not out, Ben Stokes 33) by 5 wickets