Headingley, England: Shardul Thakur dramatically blew open the first Test with two wickets in two balls, rekindling India’s hopes after Ben Duckett had set England on course for another memorable run chase at Headingley. Thakur, who had been largely a passenger for much of the match, was given the ball by captain Shubman Gill and immediately dismissed Duckett and Harry Brook with consecutive deliveries.

Earlier, Duckett and Zak Crawley built on their morning session dominance, adding a swift 71 runs. Duckett raced to his sixth Test century – and his first in an England second innings – off just 121 balls. He received a reprieve on 97 when Yashasvi Jaiswal, who dropped his third catch of the match, fumbled a chance on the square-leg boundary, allowing Duckett to punch the air in celebration of his milestone.

After a brief rain interruption, Crawley pulled Prasidh Krishna for a boundary through wide mid-on but fell to the very next ball, edging to slip for 65. England’s first-innings centurion, Ollie Pope, soon followed, chopping Prasidh onto his own stumps. Despite these setbacks, Duckett continued his fluent innings, even executing an outrageous reverse slap for six over cover off Ravindra Jadeja.

However, Thakur’s reintroduction into the attack provided India with a crucial breakthrough. Duckett slapped a wide half-volley straight to substitute fielder Nitish Kumar Reddy at extra cover. On the very next delivery, a “freebie” angling well past leg stump, Harry Brook strangled the ball through to Rishabh Pant behind the stumps, becoming only the fifth batsman in Test history to be dismissed for 99 and 0 in the same match.

Ben Stokes began his innings cautiously against Jadeja, missing a couple of reverse sweeps. One such attempt led to an unsuccessful review by Shubman Gill for a catch at short leg, with replays confirming the ball had hit Stokes on the biceps. Stokes and Joe Root will resume after an early tea interval, caused by another rain shower, with England needing just 102 more runs for victory.