Stokes hails openers Crawley and Duckett

England skipper Ben Stokes hailed the roles of openers Zak Crawley (65, 126b, 7×4) and Ben Duckett (149, 170b, 21×4, 1×6) in the staggering five-wicket win over India in the Headingley Test here.

The duo’s tone-setting 188-run stand established such a strong foundation that even a late-afternoon wobble did not thwart the pursuit.

“The way that Zak played was huge,” Stokes said after the game on Tuesday. “They complement each other so well. Left hand, right hand, one’s a giant, one’s not. It’s very hard for the bowlers to find any rhythm.”

Stokes stated that a simplicity of approach helped. “We’re a very simple-minded pair, me and Baz [Brendon McCullum]. When you’re chasing totals like that, how you are in the dressing room is very important. Because the lads have got jobs to go out there and do.

“Keeping the calm, relaxed vibe as much as we can throughout the dressing room is so important. It was pretty simple — if we bat the overs left, we will win this game just because of how quick this ground is. It’s probably been over four an over anyway without any team really doing anything… bar Rishabh [Pant]. It’s just a very, quick-scoring ground.”

On day one, India made 359 for three, but Stokes said that he had no second thoughts about having asked India to bat first. “Test matches are played over five days,” he said. “Imagine thinking that way at the end of day one, before we’ve even had a chance to bat on the wicket…”