England beats India by 5 wickets in 1st Test after historic chase
There's just something about Headingley that delivers classic Test matches.
England beat India by five wickets Tuesday to win the first Test of the five-match series in historic fashion.
Set a target of 371, Ben Duckett's brilliant 149 led England to victory. Jamie Smith completed the epic run chase with a six, as England finished on 373-5.
The result means England's two highest successful run chases in men's Tests have both come against India, and both under the guidance of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
England's highest successful run chases in Test cricket:
- 378-3 vs. India, Edgbaston (2022)
- 373-5 vs. India, Headingley (2025)
- 362-9 vs. Australia, Headingley (2019)
- 332-7 vs. Australia, Melbourne (1928)
India, meanwhile, is the first team in Test history to lose a match despite scoring five individual hundreds in a first-class game. That's a sample size of over 60,000 matches.
Vice-captain Rishabh Pant (134 and 118) became only the second wicket-keeper to record hundreds in both innings of the same test. India ultimately put up 835 runs, but it wasn't enough.
India faltered at the end of each innings in Leeds, finishing 7-41 and 6-31.
India will rue a series of costly mistakes, including multiple missed catches, across both innings that allowed England to claim victory.
England's Joe Root, playing at his county cricket home in Leeds, was unbeaten on 53. Duckett was named Player of the Match.
The two teams will now regroup - or, in India's case, undertake a significant postmortem - before the second Test gets underway July 2 at Edgbaston.