First-day call was all part of a big plan as England kick off the summer in fine style

Alan Richardson

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WHAT a performance that was by England to win the first Test against India at Headingley.

To chase down 371 on the final day in any situation is a pretty remarkable achievement - and England made it look pretty comfortable.

There were some howls of derision on the first day when England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl... and then saw India pile up 359-3 by stumps.

But England wouldn't have taken that call lightly - and it would have been a tactical plan for the five days.

I don’t think for one minute that they felt they would bowl out India for 200 in the first innings and be batting themselves just after tea.

However, Headingley is a ground where the wicket doesn’t change too much and England have a great record of chasing down targets under Brendon McCullum and Stokes.

So it wasn’t a terrible toss decision and even when India reached 430-3 on day two, England battled back superbly to limit them to 471.

I also think it helps that England now have a reputation for chasing big fourth-innings scores and that plays into their hands.

Teams go defensive against them quite quickly and, all of a sudden, ticking along at four or five an over isn’t an issue. And Headingley is such a tough ground to defend, however good you are.

The good news for England is that the likes of Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue got some valuable miles into their legs.

Test match cricket doesn’t always go your way, but they will have learned so much from the five days in Leeds.

And it’s another game ticked off for them as we prepare for this winter's Ashes.

Let's be honest, though, it could easily have been a Test which England lost.

India collapsed twice in the match and also dropped a number of catches.

‘The catches I can understand to a degree because it can be difficult to pick the ball up at Headingley.

However, the lack of lower-order runs will be a concern to them as a group.