Root, Bairstow shine to put England in command in chase of 378 at Edgbaston

Tags: India tour of England, 2021, England vs India, 5th Test at Birmingham, Jul 01-05, 2022, 2021, India, England, Joseph Edward Root, Jonathan Marc Bairstow

Published on: Jul 05, 2022

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Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow added an unbroken 150 runs for the fourth wicket at Edgbaston as England seized control of proceedings on day four in what seemed like a challenging chase of 378. Root returned unbeaten on 76 off 112 balls while Bairstow scored 72 not out in only 87 balls as the hosts transferred the pressure onto the visitors by stumps on Day 4. England now need only 119 runs to complete yet another chase in a home Test. They beat New Zealand 3-0 by chasing down significant targets in all three matches of the series.

England got off to a terrific start in their chase on Monday (July 4) as Alex Lees (56) and Zak Crawley (46) added 107 for the opening wicket. Lees was the more aggressive of the two, bringing up his fifty in just 44 balls. Just as the pressure was beginning to tell on India, skipper Jasprit Bumrah struck, cleaning up Crawley as he offered no strike to a delivery that came back in.

Immediately after the tea break, Bumrah produced another brilliant delivery and had Ollie Pope caught behind for a duck. Lees was then run out following a terrible mix-up with Root, who wanted to steal a single. Lees was reluctant and, by the time he took off, it was way too late. England had suddenly slipped from 107 for no loss to 109 for 3. But Root had Bairstow gave India no further reason to cheer. India could have had the latter on 14, but Hanuma Vihari dropped a catch at slip

Earlier, India let go of the advantage of a significant first-innings lead by getting bowled out for 245 in their second innings. India resumed their day on 125 for 3, but could only add a further 120 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara was the first to go for 66, slashing a cut off Stuart Broad to backward point. Shreyas Iyer (19) again fell to the short ball while Rishabh Pant (57) perished to Jack Leach, attempting the reverse sweep.

England captain Ben Stokes ran through the lower-order, dismissing Mohammed Shami (13), Ravindra Jadeja (23) and Bumrah (7). The batters then continued to build on the fightback as the hosts gained the ascendancy by stumps on Day 4 of the Edgbaston Test.

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