England kept India down to 224 in the first innings.
Green wicket, Ball seaming around, Bowling conditions. But who cares? Ben Duckett seems to be playing on a different wicket altogether. The left-handed English opener hit a outrageous reverse-scoop for a six to Akash Deep. The shot came on the last delivery of the fourth over of the second innings. England bundled India out for 224 on the morning of the second day of the Test at The Oval.
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146/1
50/3
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The visitors lost their last four wickets in a matter of just six runs. They were 204/6 at stumps on the first day of the match, with Karun Nair scoring a gritty half-century. Nair and Washington Sundar steered the total to safe waters after India were jittery on Day 1 of the Test. Being put into bat, India were reduced to 153/6, before Nair and Sundar stitched a vital stand of 65 runs to get them past the 200-run mark.
Watch the shot by Ben Duckett, where he reverse scoops Akash Deep for a boundary after being dominated by the bowler for most of the over.
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This isn’t the first time that the English opener has tried something like this. This kind of a shot has been his go-to preference after a bowler has pinned him to the wall on multiple occasions. In his first two overs, Akash Deep troubled the left-hander on multiple occasions. It was no surprise that Duckett was going to free his hands and try for something to rattle the bowler. But he chose a reverse scoop and executed it to perfection to release all the pressure. England are off to a flying start after the openers have crossed the 50-run mark in the eighth over of the innings.
Duckett and Crawley have made their intentions very clear, every time they have come out to bat. Though they have had their concerns against the moving ball, they have left no opportunity to take the attack to the opposition when they had the chance to. Once given a chance, England do not leave the opportunity to score some brisk runs, and that is exactly what they have done against India in the fifth Test. After dismissing the Indians early on Day 2, the openers came out all guns blazing to take the attack to the opposition.
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