Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley rewrite Headingley record books with 188-run stand as England duo breaks 30-year-old feat

Ben Duckett might have missed on a well-deserved 150 by just a run, but the England opener didn't left until providing a solid platform for the England team in their chase for 371 in the fourth innings against India in the first Test at Headingley in Leeds on Tuesday.

Chasing a 350-plus total, Duckett dislodged the Indian pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah, to all corners of the park and forged a 188-run stand with Zak Crawley for the opening wicket. When Duckett was finally dismissed for 149 off the bowling of Shardul Thakur, England were prettily placed at 253/3 in 54.3 overs, needing just above 100 runs.

The scoreline could have been different, had Yashasvi Jaiswal held on to a tough chance off Mohammed Siraj when Duckett was on 97.

List of records by Ben Duckett & Zak Crawley

• The opening wicket stand of 188 between Duckett and Crawley was the second-highest for England in the fourth innings. It is also their highest against India in the fourth innings and also the highest at this venue.
• The 188-run opening stand was also the fifth highest by any pair for the first wicket in the fourth innings. It is also the highest in the fourth innings since 1995, thus breaking a 30-year-old record.
• Duckett and Crawley also etched their names into history books when their stand crossed the 154-run mark as they went past Geoffrey Boycott and Mike Brearley for the highest first wicket stand in the fourth innings of a Test match at home for England. Boycott and Brearley had stitched together 154 against Australia in Nottingham in 1977.
• It was also the first time at Headingley that two opening batters have scored half-centuries in a fourth innings of a Test match.

Ben Duckett joins Alastair Cook

With his fifth Test hundred, Duckett became the first England opener to score a century in the fourth innings of a Test match since Alastair Cook in 2010. Cook, then England captain, had scored 109 not out against Bangladesh in Mirpur. It was also Duckett's first hundred in the second innings of a Test in his career.