After five days of toil and a fair bit of angst about the call to bowl first, England emerged victorious, reeling in a target of 371 runs in the final hour of the match to beat India by five wickets. Headingley had another entry into its annals of absurdity, as had this remarkably spirited England team led by Ben Stokes.
There were a few nerves and setbacks on an epic final day, moments when this new-look India team summoned up the tamasha and squeezed. But at 6.28pm, as Jamie Smith launched Ravindra Jadeja into the stands, a chase underpinned by Ben Duckett’s sublime 149 was wrapped up to claim a 1-0 lead with four to play.
