After looking uncomfortable against the new ball in the first two ODIs against India, Ben Duckett scored a blistering 141 in the third ODI at Lord’s to help England clinch the series 2-1.
Jasprit Bumrah at the top of his bowling mark can be a nightmare for most. For Ben Duckett in the first two ODIs, the situation was hardly different. Bowling from over the wicket, India’s prime speedster kept angling the deliveries across Duckett, something the England southpaw had no answers to.
Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna were right on the money in the powerplay of the first ODI, allowing England a mere 20 in the first seven overs. Most deliveries to Duckett were angled across, and he struggled to connect. When Gurnoor Brar came on in the eighth over, Duckett took him down for two sixes and a four, but Brar took him out for 43.
After India were dismissed for 233 in the second ODI, they needed early breakthroughs. Bumrah came to the rescue again, with the wicket of Duckett in a near-repeat of the first ODI. India got Jacob Bethell packing to reduce England to 8-2 before a Joe Root masterclass carried them home to level the series 1-1.
Things changed in the third ODI. Bumrah could not pass the fitness test, and England breathed a sigh of relief. Among the first batters to cash in on the opportunity was Duckett, as his 141 almost batted India out of the game with 387-3. Bumrah’s absence was felt.
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Decoding Ben Duckett’s struggles against the outgoing delivery
To respond to a delivery angling away, a batter needs to be good at two things. One, a sense of where his off-stump is. And two, his feet covering the line of the delivery. Duckett’s front foot can get stuck in the crease and, when it does, he is unable to cover the line of the ball, which leaves him guessing outside the off-stump. The front foot stays planted in the same spot as his stance, making it difficult to chase balls angling away. As a result, more often than not he hung his bat out trying to connect the ball in the early phases of the innings.
Bumrah bowled 20 times to Duckett across the first two ODIs, conceding just one boundary. Sixteen of these were pitched on a good length, angling away, making it extremely difficult for Duckett to connect the ball. Bumrah’s unusual release point makes that line and movement even more awkward for the left-hander. Though Bumrah can nip the ball back into the left-hander as well, the one leaving them comes more naturally to him.
India played four speedsters in the third ODI: Prasidh, Brar, Prince Yadav and Arshdeep Singh. Prasidh and Arshdeep opened the bowling, but neither was able to hold their line against Duckett and target him at his weakness. England got off to a brisk start – neither Brar nor Prasidh did any better – with an opening partnership of 192 between Bethell and Duckett.
Indian fast bowlers to Ben Duckett (balls bowled)
| Length | Bumrah (1st ODI) | Arshdeep, Prasidh, Prince, Brar (3rd ODI) |
| Full | 3 | 18 |
| Good | 16 | 34 |
| Hard | 1 | 29 |
| Short | 0 | 19 |
The numbers tell us a contrasting story. As compared to Bumrah's 80 per cent across two matches, the four seamers in the third ODI bowled only 33 per cent of their deliveries on a good length to Duckett. This is enough to showcase how India missed a trick to trouble the batter who went on to score 141.
Duckett has a tendency to throw his bat at anything outside the off stump, but is double-minded in the area around the fifth stump, where Bumrah kept peppering him. With him out of the side in the third ODI, India’s bowling lacked gas and were taken to the cleaners quite easily. This series will also raise India’s questions on their bowling attack in the absence of Bumrah.
With the ODI World Cup on South African soil next year, India have got some rigorous thinking to do in terms of their bowling reserves.
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