Replying to India's challenging 445, Ben Duckett's fiery century powered England to a commanding 207/2 at the close of Day 2 in the third Test in Rajkot on February 16. Ben Duckett unleashed the Bazball avatar in him and cracked an unbeaten 133 off 118 balls to leave England trailing just by 238 runs.
Duckett's show lights up Rajkot
The match began with Duckett and Zak Crawley forming an 84-run opening stand in just 80 balls. Ravichandran Ashwin, the experienced off-spinner, then achieved a milestone by dismissing Crawley for 15, marking his 500th wicket in Test cricket.
Following Crawley's wicket, Ollie Pope came to the crease to partner with Duckett, and together they contributed 93 runs in 102 balls to the scoreboard. Their partnership was eventually broken when Mohammed Siraj dismissed Pope LBW for 39.
Before the first official ball was even bowled, England faced a unique challenge, starting at 6/0. This unusual score was due to a penalty imposed on India for running on the pitch's danger area, resulting in five penalty runs, along with an extra run from a no-ball delivered by Jasprit Bumrah.
India's tail wagged
Earlier, R Ashwin (37) and newcomer Dhruv Jurel (46) created a significant 77-run stand for the eighth wicket, boosting India's imposing first innings score to 445 runs over 130.5 overs.
After the lunch break, Ashwin skillfully scored through on-drives and glances, whereas Jurel narrowly escaped being caught twice, once by Ollie Pope and then by Ben Stokes at mid-wicket and leg-slip, respectively, when he was batting at 32. England seized a chance when Ashwin misjudged a shot off Rehan Ahmed, leading to his dismissal by a forward-diving fielder at mid-on.
Jurel demonstrated his batting strength with powerful sixes over mid-wicket and mid-off. However, his innings came to an end when he misjudged a late cut to a flatter and wider delivery from Ahmed, resulting in an impressive low catch by Foakes. Jasprit Bumrah then provided some late momentum with forceful shots over mid-on for a four and a six, along with a lofted drive over cover for another boundary.
Mohammed Siraj experienced a moment of discomfort after being struck on the knee while attempting a reverse-sweep against Tom Hartley. Initially ruled out, the decision was reversed to not out after a DRS review. Following this, Siraj needed on-field medical attention due to pain from the injury. Mark Wood later clinched Bumrah's wicket lbw with a cunning slower ball, wrapping up India's innings and completing a four-wicket haul.
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