Mark Wood applauded Ben Duckett’s “bravery and skill” after the opening batter led England’s remarkable counteroffensive to disrupt India’s bowlers on day two of the third Test.
India racked up an imposing 445 and kept England in the field for 130.5 overs in sapping conditions but Duckett put pressure back on the hosts with a boundary-laden 133 not out from just 118 balls.
The left-hander helped England motor along to 207 for two at nearly six an over by stumps, manipulating the field with his customary sweeps off the spinners and straight drives and carves to the quicks.
Given the circumstances of the match, as well as the 1-1 scoreline in the series, this was a monumental effort from Duckett, whose first iteration as a Test cricketer ended in India in November 2016.
“To be that far behind in the game and go out and play like that showed real bravery and skill,” England team-mate Wood said.
“Sometimes it looked like India weren’t sure of their fields. The way they changed the field and then he’d hit it somewhere else, it was such a skilful innings against a good attack.
“He’s a nightmare to bowl at in the nets, we try to get him to leave one but he never leaves any.
“It’s been hot, he’s spent all that time in the field, so mentally to have that capability to then go out there and play with the freedom and clarity of mind to play those shots and pick the right ball and still be there at the end… I’m delighted for him.”
Duckett, who put on an opening 89 with Zak Crawley and 93 with Ollie Pope, had a torrid time on his only tour previous of India as he was worked over by Ravichandran Ashwin before being dropped for several years.
Ashwin has dismissed Duckett five times in five Tests but was curiously not introduced until the 12th over, when England were on 71 for none, and he claimed his 500th Test wicket by dismissing Crawley.
There was no stopping Duckett, who collected 21 fours and two sixes before surviving a tight lbw shout against Ashwin in the final over, with the ball found to have pitched a fraction outside leg stump.
“Ben Duckett is a phenomenal talent so credit to him, he’s made a wonderful hundred,” Ashwin said. “I wanted to clap, but the hardcore competitor in me didn’t allow me to clap, but I’m very happy for Ben.
“I would have really loved to bowl at him when he was not at 60-70 runs. He is a very different player to bowl at when he is on nought. A couple of his shots, the slog sweeps were really, really special.”
Wood was the pick of England’s attack with four for 114, while he also affected the run out of the dangerous Sarfaraz Khan, on a pitch that is likely to get worse for batting as the match progresses.
England squandered five opportunities over four-and-a-half sessions by dropping three catches and missing two referrals although Wood was just happy to get off the pitch by the end.
“I’m absolutely over the moon to be off my feet,” Wood said. “It was hard, hard toil. It’s a good wicket for the batters but the odd ball spins, the odd ball doesn’t bounce or there’s a bit of reverse.
“It keeps you in the game where you feel in the game but it’s not a wicket where you blast people out, it feels to me like hard work and you have to try and try and try.
“It was a bizarre day, it almost felt like we should be getting more wickets but then the game wasn’t going anywhere. Personally, I would have liked to have gone for less runs.
“Yes, my role is to be attacking and try to get wickets but sometimes I felt like I maybe leaked a bit too much. But I’m delighted that I got four wickets.”
Record-breaking Root edges England closer to Sri Lanka victory
Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.
England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.
He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.
As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.
Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day
Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.
Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.
Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.
If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.
Last Hurrah: Dwayne Bravo to call time on CPL career after this year's edition
Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo says this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be his last hurrah as he announced his retirement from the tournament on Saturday.
Bravo, who represents the Trinbago Knight Riders, made the revelation on his Instagram account hours ahead of the franchise’s opening contest against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre, scheduled for 7:00pm.
“It's been a great journey, and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people," Bravo said in his post.
“TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team,” he added.
The 40-year-old’s post all but indicates the end of a decorated professional career, as he retired from international cricket in 2021 after the T20 World Cup and also announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) a year later after being part of four title-winning Chennai Super Kings campaigns.
Bravo, known for his flair and skillful batting and bowling, is currently the CPL’s highest wicket-taker with 128 scalps in 103 games at an average of 22.40 and economy rate of 8.69.
In fact, Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in all T20s, with 630 scalps in 578 matches. He has also scored 6,970 runs with the bat.
No doubt the electrifying Trinidad and Tobago stalwart will go down as one of T20's early legends, having played seven World Cups in the format, winning two titles, as well as over 15 franchise league titles. He is the first bowler to get to 500 T20 wickets.
CWI targets domestic T20 competition in 2025 to identify Caribbean representative(s) for 2028 Olympic Games
Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dr. Kishore Shallow says plans are already afoot to host a domestic T20 competition next year to determine the Caribbean representative(s) for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Shallow, once again welcoming cricket’s return to the Olympic Games, pointed out that his administration is already in dialogue with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) hierarchy to stage the domestic competition in 2025.
Cricket, which last featured at an Olympic Games in 1900, was always set for a long-awaited return to the global multi-sport showpiece, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year confirmed it and four other sports—baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, and squash—for the LA Games.
“To add cricket to the agenda in the next Olympics is certainly going to be something tremendous, as we did in the Commonwealth Games a couple years ago when we had one of our teams representing the females. We at the time chose our original women’s tournament, and the winner at the time was Barbados, so they represented the region,” Shallow said.
“We anticipate something similar will be done unless they tell us all the teams can come and participate, which would be ideal, but it is unlikely for that to happen,” he added.
Shallow also explained that the CPL champions cannot represent the region at the Olympic Games given that the tournament is franchise-based and involves players from other parts of the world.
As such, he revealed that he has engaged CARICOM leaders regarding plans for a domestic T20 competition from which the winner or top finishers would secure the coveted Olympic Games spot(s).
“We have been in discussion with CPL for them to fund a domestic T20 tournament starting next year. I think Miles Bascombe and his team have already scheduled a window for that next year in 2025. Once we are able to have that tournament, then we can use that to determine which team or teams will participate in the Olympics on behalf of CWI,” Shallow shared.
“We can’t use the CPL as it is now because it’s franchises. But in the domestic tournament that we’re having, which will still have a commercial model to it but not to the extent of CPL, but that will more than likely be territories instead of franchises, so we will be able to identify teams,” he noted.
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