Jennings marks debut with superb ton
KEAToN JENNINGS was the new toast of English cricket after scoring a century on Test debut against India at Mumbai — then admitted he had woken in a panic at 5am thinking he had missed the team bus.
South African-born Jennings, who hit 112 as England reached 288 for five on the first day of the fourth Test, also feared he had begun his international career with a duck, only to be dropped in the gully off Karun Nair.
But as he was left reflecting on a ‘dream come true’, the 24-year-old declared: ‘Waking up this morning, if someone had said to me you’ll have a Test match hundred I’d have bitten their arm off.
‘I woke up at 5 o’clock and thought I’d missed the bus. I jumped out of bed and had a panic about where everything was, then settled myself down when I saw the time. When that ball looped up to gully, my heart was in my mouth. I thought: “oh no, you’ve got a nought in your first innings.” Thankfully it went to ground and it went from there.’
Jennings who was captain of South Africa Under-19s as recently as 2011, was watched on TV by his parents, who were on holiday in Mauritius — only for the power at their resort to fail when Keaton reached 96.
It returned only when he had 111, though his father Ray, a former coach of South Africa, was later sent a video of the shot that brought up his son’s hundred. Ray admitted: ‘This is the best day of my sporting career — better than anything I experienced as a player or coach. But I must admit my nerves are shot.’
It was a day when Jennings junior, who also survived a perilously close lbw shout from seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on ten, couldn’t believe his luck.
Even when he reached three figures shortly before tea with a cheeky reverse sweep for four from off-spinner Jayant Yadav, he wasn’t quite sure what had happened.
‘I looked up and saw 96 on the board and hit it and it went for four,’ he said. ‘But the ground went a bit dull, so I thought I’d mucked up a bit and got it wrong.
‘Then I looked up again at the board and realised I’d gone to a hundred. In that moment you don’t want to jump around and go ballistic. But the emotion that went over me was really incredible.’
It spoke volumes for Jennings’ self-assurance that he unfurled the reverse sweep at such a crucial moment.
‘It’s been a shot I’ve played fairly successfully over the last six to eight months,’ he said. ‘I looked at the scoreboard and thought: “Would I rather get out caught at first slip defending, or caught trying to go for a hundred?” I bit the bullet and went for it, and thankfully it hit the middle.’
England may have unearthed another special talent to go alongside the man he replaced on this tour, the injured Haseeb Hameed. They were certainly grateful for his courage. Jennings’ stunning hundred wasn’t enough to earn them the commanding position that should have been theirs when they reached 196 for two at tea.
Three wickets for Ravichandran Ashwin after the break — including Jennings — while England could add just 19 runs brought India back into it and left Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler to hang on before closing on 288 for five.
There may have been a different tale to tell from the first day of this fourth Test had Nair held on to a difficult chance before Jennings had scored or if the marginal lbw had gone India’s way when he was beginning to find his rhythm.
Yet once Jennings, who threw in his lot with his English mum’s country five years ago, had settled, he delivered a masterclass in opening batting.
He’s the 19th England batsman to make a century on Test debut. That four of the last five — Jennings, Matt Prior, Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott — were born in South Africa perhaps tells its own tale.
This 112 off 219 balls with 13 fours should have led England to a position of dominance, but a combination of poor shots and a pitch that offered significant firstday turn left the match in the balance. Cook, the other member of the latest English five to hit a century on debut, was extraordinarily stumped on the first morning, while Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow all gave their wickets away recklessly.
After making an error playing three spinners in Mohali, England have now erred by reverting to their four-seamer policy despite Stuart Broad’s absence.
If they had spinners of the quality of Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Yadav perhaps they would have stuck to their guns, but their options of Gareth Batty and newcomer Liam Dawson to back up Adil Rashid and Moeen didn’t have quite the same appeal and instead they called in Jake Ball.
Yet clearly Rashid and Moeen will never have a better chance of bowling England to victory in a Test they must win, at two down and with the final Test in Chennai next week, to stay in this series — especially if Stokes and Buttler can take the score beyond 400.