"Gutted as well as happier" - Ben Duckett on missing out on a century in 2nd Ashes Test against Australia

England batter Ben Duckett was gutted, but at the same time seemed content, after missing out on a century against Australia in the first innings of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s on Thursday, June 29. The England opener led his team’s fightback with 98 runs from 134 balls after Australia posted 416 in the first inning.

Duckett played second fiddle to Zak Crawley in their 91-run opening stand. Although Crawley missed his half-century by just two runs, Duckett reached his before the tea break. He hit nine boundaries before an attempted pull shot off a Josh Hazlewood short-ball led to his dismissal when he was just two runs away from his third Test century.

Speaking to Sky Sports about his brilliant innings after the gameplay of the second day, Ben Duckett said:

“I am gutted obviously. I had to take out the start that I had. Gutted as well as happier. I felt like it was probably my best knock so far. Yeah it's a shame, I was back in the way I was playing. That one rushed me quicker and unfortunately went straight to Warner.”

Duckett didn’t have a great time with the bat in the Ashes opener in Edgbaston as he returned with scores of 12 and 19 in the two innings. The Northamptonshire batter mentioned that a proactive approach with the bat helped him make progress at Lord’s. He said:

“Yeah I would say so (batting with a proactive approach). Done a lot of work this week. I felt like last game I missed out my strength on a good pitch there. Today, I was really happy with the kind of slashes over gully.”

"That was my slowest knock in English conditions" - Ben Duckett

Ben Duckett hit his first boundary of the innings off Mitchell Starc. The left-hander got an outside edge that went down to the third-man region. He waited for another 23 balls to score his next boundary. There was a period when the Australian pacers tested the English batters with a barrage of short balls. Duckett was a bit more defensive in that period.

Explaining his approach against different Australian bowlers, Ben Duckett said:

“We just go and react to the situation. That was my slowest knock, probably in English (conditions). It was just that I could trust my defense and hit the bad balls to the boundary. Even today, I felt Lyon was bowling pretty well to me, where I could back my defense. We were scoring pretty well at the other end.”

England ended Day 2 at 278 for four, 138 runs behind Australia’s first-innings total. Harry Brook (45) and Ben Stokes (17) will resume the innings for the hosts on the third day.