England displayed remarkable composure and tactical awareness on Day 5 at Headingley as they resumed their daunting chase of 371 against India. The visitors began the final day with high intensity, delivering probing spells in the opening hour, but the English batters responded with restraint and focus.
Rather than panicking, they respected the good deliveries, absorbed the pressure, and waited patiently to counterattack. By the time the lunch break arrived, England had surged to 117 without loss, firmly in control of the chase.
After the interval, England continued to dominate. Zak Crawley rotated the strike smartly, picking off singles and twos against India’s spread field. At the other end, Ben Duckett took the role of aggressor, capitalizing on every scoring opportunity and dispatching anything loose to the boundary. His intent never wavered as he rapidly moved into the 90s. Just as it looked like he might fall agonizingly short of a century, an unexpected twist added drama to the moment.
On 97, Duckett was surprised by a sharp bouncer from Mohammed Siraj and instinctively swiveled into a hook shot. The ball flew towards deep square leg—precisely where Yashasvi Jaiswal had been stationed for that very shot. Jaiswal sprinted to his right and managed to position himself well, his eyes locked onto the descending ball.
However, as he dived forward to complete the catch, the ball struck his palms but slipped through just as he hit the ground. Duckett, who had already begun walking off in disappointment, turned around in disbelief before breaking into a joyous hop, while Siraj vented his anger by punching the air in pure frustration.
The dropped catch proved to be a significant moment, not just for the match but also for Jaiswal personally. It was his fourth missed chance of the game, having earlier dropped three in the gully region—though one of those was a tough opportunity.
Still, the mounting tally of errors made him an easy target for online criticism. Social media, especially Twitter, erupted with reactions, many mocking Jaiswal’s poor outing in the field and questioning his focus
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For India, it was a painful reminder that in high-stakes games, small mistakes can prove costly. While Duckett’s knock drew applause for its brilliance, Jaiswal’s fielding lapses overshadowed his earlier contributions with the bat. As the game slipped further out of India’s hands, the dropped catch served as a turning point—both symbolic and literal—highlighting the thin margin between success and failure in Test cricket.