A tough end to the opening day of the first Test against India in Hyderabad did little to dampen English spirits with Ben Duckett describing a defiant innings from Ben Stokes as having the potential to be “matchwinning” in the final shake-up.
Stokes struck a calculated 70 with the tail in support to turn 155 for seven into 246 all out, allaying concerns over the captain’s readiness for the tour after knee surgery last December. But given India closed on 119 for one, the tourists head into the second day with work to do.
Duckett, who earlier made 35, said: “Stokes gets it done whenever we need him. He’s the best in the world in those situations; the way he soaked up pressure early on, trusted his defence, then let loose when we were eight or nine down.”
“We were very happy being bowled out for what we got. Credit to Stokesy, that could be a matchwinning knock in a couple of days’ time.”
While Stokes was gimlet-eyed with the bat, patiently waiting 53 balls for his first boundary and then unleashing eight more from his final 35, his selection of only one seamer – Mark Wood – and tactics in the field raised some eyebrows.
As well as burning all three reviews, there was a persistence with Tom Hartley that saw the left-armer ship 63 runs from his first nine overs in Test cricket. Stokes also opted against bowling Joe Root, something that would have presented a different angle for the left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal, who went on to a belligerent 76 not out.
Jaiswal’s treatment of Hartley was particularly brutal, launching the 24-year-old’s first ball in Test cricket for six. Duckett, needless to say, supported Stokes’ decision and rallied round the newcomer, pointing to a late review for lbw against Shubman Gill that was projected to be going over the stumps by a whisker.
Duckett said: “Other captains might take you off after two overs and you’re then hiding away for the rest of the game. That’s Stokesy: he keeps bowling him and Tom nearly gets Shubman at the end. I’m not quite sure how that is going over the stumps, but he came back really well.”
“[Containment is] not something we look at. We look at taking wickets and being aggressive. We’ve shown that throughout the last two years.”
On his opening stand of 55 alongside Zak Crawley, one that was followed by the loss of three wickets in only 21 balls, Duckett added: “We’re very happy with how we started. We were always trying to be positive. Out here when you get the opportunity to have a bit of pace on the ball you go even harder.
“They bowled some really nice balls, I could have nicked off about 15 times, but I put the bad ball away.”
While the England team ended the opening day in an upbeat mood, there were complaints from travelling supporters among the 21,000-strong crowd. Tight security measures precluded water from being brought into the ground, with reports that bottled water was not available for sale and only water fountains with long queues were available.
