For the hosts at the Kennington Oval in London, the fifth Test against India began on a hopeful note. India’s first innings was truncated at 224 due to Chris Chancellor of England, since he had the wonderful opportunity to mangle five wickets. India’s second morning collapse in form was preceded by a strong resistance led by Karun Nair’s half-century.
England’s openers came out looking to post a huge total. Duckett was seen playing some unusual shots-the one off Mohammed Siraj, particularly, had class. With India’s bowlers trying to stop the run-flow, England will look to further build the lead to pressurize the visitors. So the match is nicely set up for an exciting finish.
Ben Duckett Outsmarts Mohammed Siraj
ANOTHER SIX! 🙌
Ben Duckett is 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. pic.twitter.com/lBsu9KzOO0
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 1, 2025
England top order batsman Ben Duckett has demonstrated his batting performance in the fifth test match against India at the Kennington Oval in London. During a remarkable exchange, Duckett pulled off a scoop shot off Mohammed Siraj, hitting a full-straight ball over the slips into the stands. This followed a sluggish beginning to the over, as Duckett had failed to score against Siraj in the past.
Gus Atkinson played a big role in the collapse of India to reach a five-wicket haul, finishing with the figures of 21.4-8- 33-5. Atkinson had the help of Josh Tongue, whose 3/57 went a long way in helping Atkinson, as the two pacers did most of the bowling against the English. India played on after resuming at 2046 wickets, with the team being bowled out at 224.
Duckett has been in scintillating touch in the series, especially with his opening colleague Zak Crawley. The two have also constructed four 150-plus partnerships in Tests, a number that has not possibly been done by many openers since December 2022. Their joint effort (188) in the Test at Leeds was a feature, with them being the third opener partnership to score 150-plus partnerships in a Test series against India.
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