When a dropped catch gave Keaton Jennings the confidence to go all out | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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When a dropped catch gave Keaton Jennings the confidence to go all out

Hindustan Times | ByHarit N Joshi, Mumbai
Dec 08, 2016 09:54 PM IST

Keaton Jennings may have had a fabulous start to his England career with a century on Test debut, but it was a pretty unusual start for the 24-year-old southpaw on his big day.

Keaton Jennings may have had a fabulous start to his England career with a century on Test debut, but it was a pretty unusual start for the 24-year-old southpaw on his big day. (SCORECARD)

England's Keaton Jennings celebrates his century against India in Mumbai.(REUTERS)
England's Keaton Jennings celebrates his century against India in Mumbai.(REUTERS)

“I kind of woke up at five in the morning, thinking I would have missed my bus, so I jumped up off the bed trying to panic and see where everything was and settle myself. But yes, it’s a dream come true. It’s surreal that it has come on debut,” said Jennings after his 217-ball 112-run knock at the Wankhede Stadium on Day 1 of the fourth Test on Thursday.

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Jennings’ debut innings could have been over in 10 balls had Karun Nair managed to hold on to a difficult chance at gully. He was done in by the extra bounce off Umesh Yadav’s pace, which flew off his bat in a flash. (DAY 1 BLOG)

“It was a bit of tennis-ball bounce with the new ball. I suppose you don’t really know how you play it; you ride it or play underneath it. Thankfully, it hit my hand and went out. So you have a little bit of luck but I suppose I am really thankful that the day has gone the way it has and I ended it with a hundred.

“But yes, when the ball leapt up to the gully, my heart was in my mouth, you got a naught in your first innings,” said Jennings, who became the eighth debutant to score a hundred against India in India.

READ | Keaton Jennings, England cricket’s latest opener, slams ton on Wankhede debut

The aftereffects of that dropped catch were that Jennings only got positive in his approach. He slammed the next couple of balls off Yadav to the boundary and only went from strength to strength thereon.

Jennings appeared to slow down a bit when he lost Joe Root at the other end. He took 32 balls to score six runs when he was batting between 64 and 70.

Jennings slowly opened up his shots and tried the reverse sweep on many occasions. However, at 96, he surprised by deploying reverse sweep to reach his hundred. There was no over-the-top celebration on reaching the three-figure mark --- just raising the bat and hugging his partner Moeen Ali.

“The ground went a little dull, I thought I had mucked up a little bit, looked at the board again and kind of realised I have got a hundred. I suppose that at that moment you don’t want to run around and go ballistic. The elation, the pride and the satisfaction at that moment was incredible and special,” said Jennings.

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