On 24th June 2025, England completed a fine win over India in the first Test of their five-match series at Headingley. Yorkshire’s famous Leeds home is no stranger to brilliant Test matches, having been the scene of the brilliant Ashes clash in 1981, when Ian Botham and Bob Willis helped the hosts to an incredible win. Younger fans will think of the more recent Ashes miracle at the ground, when Ben Stokes hit that incredible 135 not out to guide his side to victory.
They chased down 359 that day, back in 2019, and whilst their latest victory at the ground might not have quite been up there with those two Ashes wins, their fourth-innings target was a shade higher. On the fifth and final day of the game, England, now captained by Stokes, defied the weather, world number one Test bowler Jasprit Bumrah, and a deteriorating pitch to chase down 371. It was a remarkable effort by the hosts and a truly thrilling spectacle for those who watched the drama unfold.
How the Test Was Won
📺 Headingley Unfiltered
Behind-the-scenes of England Men’s stunning victory in Leeds.
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 26, 2025
England won the toss and elected to field, as they tend to do, backing their ability to chase. Despite the stats that suggested this was generally a wise move at Headingley, and one that had been fruitful for this England team more widely, critics were quick to suggest it was the wrong call when India ended the first day on 359/3.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan was one of those to stick the boot in, claiming he was “staggered” by the decision. He felt that the right approach was the more traditional one under blue skies, to bat. No doubt he was even more convinced Stokes made the wrong decision – even though India counterpart Shubman Gill said he too would have bowled – when the tourists progressed to 430/3 the next day.
However, this England side loves defying expectations and can never be written off, and they came roaring back. India collapsed to 471 all out, with Stokes taking four wickets and Josh Tongue mopping up the tail with four himself. Despite centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill on his debut as skipper, and the indomitable Rishabh Pant, India will have felt very disappointed having put themselves in a position to make 600 plus.
In response, England lost Zak Crawley early on, but Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope put on 122 for the second wicket. After Crawley, the following eight players all made at least 20, with Harry Brook being dismissed for a brisk yet agonising 99, Duckett chipping in with 62, and the under-pressure Pope making it to three figures before being dismissed early on the third day. In the end, they amassed 465 at 4.61 runs per over to leave the game in the balance. Bumrah was brilliant for the tourists, taking 5/83 and looking a class or two above his colleagues with the ball.
Another Indian Collapse
India again looked to have put themselves in a strong position with some excellent batting. Opener KL Rahul made a classy, technical 137, whilst Pant became just the second wicketkeeper ever to score a ton in both innings of a Test. With his usual mix of fearless strokeplay and inventive shot-making, he added 118 to his first innings score of 134.
The two centurions added almost 200 runs for the fourth wicket before Pant fell but then Karun Nair helped Rahul progress the score to 333/4. At that stage, India would have been wondering how many they should set England, how long they would need to bowl them out, and what impact the weather might have on the final day.
However, once again they collapsed dramatically, and with Tongue taking another three wickets and the impressive Brydon Carse claiming three, the away team were all out for just 364. England were set 371 to win the game but they had to face six overs on the fourth day before they could think of any final-day assault.
Crawley and Duckett played well, though and moved the score to 21/0, meaning the equation on the last day of the match was simple. England needed 350 runs, India needed 10 wickets. The tourists were big favourites but in the end Stokes’ side made it look all too easy.
Another Brilliant England Chase
Giving up few chances, England made it to 188 before Crawley fell for an unusually slow total of 65 (from 126 balls). Duckett was scoring more briskly and playing well and although Pope fell for just eight, England continued to press on towards their target. The scoring rate was never an issue despite a little time being lost to the rain and Duckett and Root took the score past 250 before the former was out for a brilliant 149 off just 170 balls.
Brook was caught down the leg side for a golden duck but Stokes made 33 to take England close to their target. Root made steady progress to an unbeaten 53, whilst at the other end Jamie Smith struck a fine 44, an innings of increasing violence as England eased towards their target with time and wickets to spare.
Overnight all the talk was of how difficult Bumrah would be to play against but the quick was handled with ease for the most part and ended wicketless from his 19 overs. With the tourists set to use their main bowler sparingly throughout the series, this was a big win for England and the style in which they chased down a big total will have given them great confidence. Not such a bad decision to field after all.
Records Galore
England’s effortless chase of 371 was the 10th highest successful fourth innings chase of all time. It was their second-best ever, just seven runs shy of the 378 they chased down against the same opponents in 2022 but 12 more than they got against the Aussies in the aforementioned 2019 clash at Headingley.
This was a match where records galore were set and here are some of the more impressive (and less niche/specific ones):
- India became the first team to lose despite scoring five individual hundreds in the match.
- The game saw a total of 1,673 runs – the most ever in a clash between these nations.
- India’s aggregate of 835 runs is the most they have ever scored and still lost a Test.
- Rishabh Pant became just the second keeper (after Andy Flower) to score dual hundreds in a Test.
- Ben Duckett’s 149 was the highest fourth innings score ever made against India.
- England chased 350 on the final day – only once has a side scored more than on the last day to win a Test and that was back in 1948.
- This was the fifth successful chase of more than 300 at Headingley, the next best ground is Kingsmead (Durban) with three 300+ chases.
- This was only the third Test to see all four innings pass 350 and one of the previous two was also at Headingley.
