England opener Ben Duckett shattered Joe Root's historic record during the first Test match against India at the Headingley Test. Duckett slammed a wonderful 149-run knock in the run chase against India as he led England's charge in the 371-run chase.
Duckett and Zak Crawley negated a tricky first session and kept the scoreboard ticking. Duckett got to his hundred in the second session as the Three Lions kept piling up runs in the second session. Duckett got to his hundred and became the first-ever England opener to hit a ton in the fourth innings in Leeds.
He then broke Root's record before getting dismissed for 149, one short of his 150. Duckett has shattered the record for the highest score by a batter in the fourth innings against India. The previous record belonged to Joe Root, who had hit 142* in the Edgbaston rescheduled Test in 2022 that England had won by chasing 378.
Highest individual scores in 4th innings chases vs India:
149 Ben Duckett Headingley 2025
142* Joe Root Edgbaston 2022
134 Faf du Plessis Joburg 2013
124 Duleep Mendis kandy 1985
122* Daryll Cullinan Joburg 1997
Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley create history
Meanwhile, the English opening pair of Duckett and Crawley created history by registering the highest opening partnership in the fourth innings against India. Their 188-run stand is by far the highest against India now, with Allan Rae and Jeffrey Stollmeyer's partnership of 142 in the 1953 Test in Port of Spain being the previous highest.
This is the fifth-highest stand by an opening pair against any team in the fourth innings. The highest such partnership record belongs to Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes of the West Indies the two had put up against Australia in Georgetown in 1984.
Meanwhile, Duckett slammed his sixth Test century and created a historical record. He has become the first England opener to slam a century in the fourth innings of a Test match in Leeds. Overall, he is just the second opener to have done so at the venue after Arthur Morris of Australia had hit a hundred in the fourth innings against England in Leeds in 1948.
