The Indian fans were left with a confirmation, sad vibes and a whole lot of records to look at that England claimed as they beat the visitors in the one-off Test in Edgbaston to finally wrap up the Test series that began last year 2-2 .
The home side began the fifth day’s play at 259/3 with 119 runs still needed to win the match. A chase they wrapped up within 19.4 overs in the first session. Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow both scored hundreds on their way to taking England across the finish line. But the duo was also involved in a major share of record-breaking as England sealed a spectacular chase in Birmingham. Below are some of the mind-boggling numbers from England’s win over India at Edgbaston.
378/3 is England’s highest chase in Tests, surpassing 359 against Australia in Ashes 2019. It was also the highest chase by any team against India, the first instance of a team chasing a 350-plus target against India in Tests. Overall it was the 8th highest successful chase in Test cricket history and the second-highest on English soil.
With this win, England have now become the first team to chase four 250-plus totals in Test cricket history. They had done so in all three Tests against New Zealand in June. For reference, in 145 years of Test cricket, there have been only 57 successful chases of over 275.
On the other hand for India, this was only their third loss in a Test while defending 150 plus in the fourth innings of a Test match. Johannesburg and Cape Town have now been joined by Edgbaston. All in 2022, India’s last three Test matches.
Joe Root finished the series with 735 runs, averaging 105.28, and scoring four hundred. Jonny Bairstow was the second in the runs tally, who was more than 300 runs behind him. The former England captain has scored 10,458 runs in Test cricket, the last 25 percent of those he has made since January 2021. Truly batting like a batter possessed.
Jonny Bairstow, in only his last five Test innings, has scored 589 runs off 578 balls {136 (92), 162 (157), 71* (44), 106 (140), 114* (145)}, averaging a staggering 196. His hundreds in both innings of the Test earned him the player of the match award.
There was one very small, if any, the silver lining for the Indian fans. Jasprit Bumrah, over the course of five Tests in England, took 23 wickets, the highest by an Indian bowler in a Test series in England.