England Captain Stokes Hails Opening Duo's Heroics in Thrilling Chase Against India

Ben Stokes, the captain of England, has praised the opening partnership of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley for their significant contribution to England's successful pursuit of a 371-run target against India in the Headingley Test.

The openers laid the foundation for England's memorable win. © Getty

While Duckett's remarkable 149 earned him widespread acclaim, Stokes emphasized the importance of Crawley's 65 in establishing a strong and complementary presence at the top of the batting order.

"When chasing a target of 370, a good start is essential. Minimizing early wickets is crucial, and the manner in which Zak and Duckett approached the game at the top of the order was particularly significant," Stokes stated.

He further added, "Zak's contribution was also immense. Their styles complement each other exceptionally well. The left-hand, right-hand combination, coupled with their contrasting statures, makes it difficult for bowlers to settle into a rhythm. When they are both in form, it can be a nightmare for the opposition to find any consistency. While Duckett scored 149, I believe Zak's 65 was equally vital. He assessed the situation admirably, recognizing that Duckett was applying pressure and contributing to the attack. That opening partnership has been consistently outstanding for us over the past few years."

Duckett's dominance against Ravindra Jadeja on the final day was particularly noteworthy, especially his confident use of the reverse sweep. Stokes considers Duckett to be among the best players of spin in the world, particularly due to his proficiency with that shot. "I spoke to him during the tea or rain break," Stokes revealed. "He's one of the best in the world at reverse sweeping and a fantastic player of spin, especially on challenging surfaces."

Stokes even sought Duckett's advice mid-innings to improve his own options against spin. "I had a brief conversation with him about potential strategies to enhance my chances. When you're in the middle, you feel like you're either moving forward or back, trying to manipulate the leg side."

"Adopting a clear strategy and using reverse sweeps was my approach. While the conditions were difficult, I remained confident and focused on what I needed to do to put pressure on the close-in fielders."

This chase marked the sixth instance under Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum where England successfully chased a target of 250 or more in the fourth innings. Stokes believes that their ability to maintain simplicity and composure is key to these remarkable achievements.

"I think we're just... We're a very simple-minded pair, me and Baz, I think, when it comes to cricket. Obviously, everyone knows what cricket's about. It's about scoring one more run than the opposition. And when you strip it all back, that's what it's like. So we just try to keep everything as simple, calm as we possibly can," Stokes said.

"When you're chasing down totals like that, how you are in the dressing room is actually very important. You know, because the lads have got jobs to go out there and do. And, you know, keeping the sort of calm, relaxed vibe as much as we can throughout the dressing room is so important to sort of the mindset of how someone is to go out there when you're out there in the middle with the pressures of, you know, that situation in particular.

"It was pretty simple yesterday. It was if we bat the overs that is left in this game, we will win this game just because of how quick this ground is at scoring. I don't know what I've read, but it's probably been over four an over [scoring rate] anyway without any team really doing anything... bar Rishabh [Pant]. It's just a very, very quick scoring ground."