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England opener Ben Duckett took the attack to India's much-vaunted bowling unit on Day 2 of the 3rd Test at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot as he brought up his 100 off only 88 deliveries. The left-handed batter reached the magical three-figure mark off Mohammed Siraj's bowling with a boundary off the mid-on region.
The incident occurred in the 26th over of the innings as the Briton drove a full delivery on the pads from Siraj to mid-on as it proved to be the 2nd fastest Test hundred by an Englishman. The southpaw inevitably roared, having scored his half-century off only 39 deliveries after India piled on a mammoth total of 445. While the 29-year-old has helped build Zak Crawley half-century partnerships frequently, he had a quiet series until the century.
The hosts started the day at 326-5, but lost their overnight batters Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav within the first hour. However, Ravichandran Ashwin and debutant Dhruv Jurel joined forces to stitch a 77-run partnership, while Jasprit Bumrah's cameo gave India further valuable runs to propel India to 445.
Ben Duckett's 88-ball century also the 2nd fastest century in India
The Northamptonshire batter's 88-ball century also proved to be the 2nd fastest on Indian soil against the hosts, with Adam Gilchrist's 84-ball ton sitting at the summit. One of the highlights of the day was also Ravichandran Ashwin reaching his 500th Test scalp after Zak Crawley got a top edge to go for 15.
Mohammed Siraj, who returned for this Test after missing the 2nd match in Vishakhapatnam, claimed Ollie Pope for 39, thereby breaking the 83-run stand between the pair. The final over of the day saw Duckett survive a close call from Ashwin as the hosts decided to review an LBW shout. However, the ball had pitched outside leg-stump.
Joe Root cracked a boundary off the final delivery of the day to propel the tourists to 207-2, still trailing by 238 runs.
