Ben Stokes Picks "Massive Reason" For England's 5-Wicket Win Over India In 1st Test
Notwithstanding the top-order heroics, England captain Ben Stokes has credited his bowlers' ruthless dismantling of India's lower-order, twice in the match, as a "pivotal factor" in their five-wicket win at Headingley. While openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley earned praise for their 188-run stand in a record fourth-innings chase of 371, Stokes stressed that the match had swung much earlier when England's bowlers prevented India from posting a total that might have been unchaseable. "It was obviously a very good wicket for batting on, the high scores have shown that,' Stokes said at the post-match media interaction.
"But some other pivotal moments in the game, obviously there will be people who get the headlines here, but the way in which we were able to knock the Indian tail over very quickly on two occasions was also a massive reason to why we were able to restrict them to a score that we definitely felt comfortable to be able to chase...
"...we didn't allow it to get above 450-500, which India could easily have done." I think as well as skill, there's been a huge contribution of our attitude and commitment to what we needed to do every single day and every single session," he said.
India appeared in complete control through large passages of the match, headlined by five individual centuries across both innings.
But a sudden collapse saw them lose their last six wickets for 41 runs, folding for 471 in the first innings. The pattern repeated itself in the second innings with the last six wickets falling for 34 runs.
"Chasing 370 (371) like we were, you always want to get off to a good start. The least amount of wickets that you lose early on is obviously crucial, but the way he (Duckett) went about it with Zak and then played the game at the top of that order for us was huge in particular," said Stokes.
"The way that Zak played as well was huge. They complement each other so, so well. Left hand, right hand, one's a giant, one's not. So it's very hard for the bowlers to settle in when they both get going. I'm sure you can ask the opposition.
"It can be a nightmare when they're in for a long period of time. Ducky's got the 149, but I think that 70 (65) as well was so, so important." Duckett's dominance against Ravindra Jadeja on the final day, especially his fearless reverse sweeps from the rough, caught the eye of many including Stokes.
"I actually spoke to him when we came off for that tea break, or rain break, whichever one it was. He's one of the best in the world at doing reverse sweeps and he's a fantastic player of spin, in particular on really tricky surfaces," said the skipper.
Stokes said he sought Duckett's advice to see his options against spin.
"I just had a little word with him about what he thought I could potentially look at to give myself a better chance. When you're in there, you feel like you're either getting forward or getting back and trying to manipulate on the leg side.
"Just going in with a clear game and reverse sweeps was something I went out there with. Yeah, it's a difficult condition, but again, just going back to being clear and confident in what I needed to do to try and knock those men (close-in fielders) off." This chase marked the sixth time under the Stokes-Brendon McCullum leadership that England had hauled in targets of 250 or more in the fourth innings.
Stokes attributed the team's consistency in such high-pressure pursuits to a shared philosophy of keeping things 'simple and calm.' "When you're chasing down totals like that, how you are in the dressing room is actually very important. Keeping the sort of calm, relaxed vibe as much as we can throughout the dressing room is so important to sort of the mindset of how someone is to go out there when you're out there in the middle with the pressures of that situation in particular.
"It was pretty simple yesterday. It was if we bat the overs that is left in this game, we will win this game just because of how quick this ground is at scoring.
"I don't know what I've read, but it's probably been over four an over (scoring rate) anyway without any team really doing anything... barring Rishabh (Pant). It's just a very, very quick scoring ground." On the debatable decision to bowl first, he added: "The wicket here on day one looked like there was a bit of grass on top of it. There was a bit of moisture underneath it.
"We backed ourselves to win that toss and bowl first, and try and strike a couple of early poles. But the opposition is allowed to play well."
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