Root, Bairstow tons help England seal record Test chase against India

England chased down a record 378-run target to win the rescheduled 5th Test against India at Edgbaston and level the series 2-2. Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow were the architects of a historic victory for England, who bounced back from a disappointing first innings performance with the bat. This was England's highest successful run-chase in Test cricket. In 2019, they had chased down 362 for 9 against Australia at Leeds thanks to a Ben Stokes masterclass. Ironically, Stokes is now England's Test captain.

England openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley got off to a sensational start in pursuit of a record total. The pair looked comfortable against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami with the new ball and added 107 for the first wicket. Bumrah returned for a fresh spell to remove Crawley and Ollie Pope, while Lees was run out for 56 following an exchange of words with Virat Kohli. Suddenly, England had lost three wickets in the space of four overs and it looked like India were making one of their fiery comebacks.

Jonny Bairstow became the first England player since Andrew Strauss in 2008 to score two hundreds in a Test match. Incidentally, Strauss's twin hundreds had also come against India in Chennai. On that occasion, India had chased down a mammoth target to register a memorable victory. There was little fight left in the Indian bowling line-up on the fifth day. Barring Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, the Indian attack lacked sting and did not pose any threat to England.The Indian team looked flat and the body language was a let-down on the fourth afternoon as Root and Bairstow started their marathon partnership to eventually seal victory for England.