England completed a record run chase to beat India by seven wickets and win the rescheduled fifth Test on day five at Edgbaston on Tuesday. Chasing 378 to win, Joe Root smashed an unbeaten 142 and Jonny Bairstow hit 114 not out to help England clinch victory and draw the series 2-2 and deny India their first series victory in England since 2007.
“Love playing. It’s as simple as that. The environment has been great and the guys are having fun in the last four weeks,” Root said after the historic chase.
IND vs ENG, 5th Test Day 5 – Highlights | Report
“There is absolute clarity when we were chasing it down and there was total belief. Absolutely didn’t think of stepping away from the game
“There are a bunch of lovely lads and Stokes has the backing of everyone. Our responsibility is to keep everyone entertained and keep it fun. Still watching Jonny bat is great, I just wanted to give him strike. I have accepted that you aren’t going to have success all the time,” he added.
Root and Bairstow shared an unbroken stand of 269, with the latter becoming the first England batsman to score two centuries in the same Test match, since Andrew Strauss against India at Chennai in 2008. He had made 106 in the first innings at Edgbaston.
“It is something you are constantly searching for and something you rarely find. You want to keep it as fun as possible.” Root said.
No England side had previously made more to win in the fourth innings of a Test than their 359-9 against Australia at Headingley three years ago.
“We have been riding a brilliant wave of confidence after brilliant performances against NZ. The start the two openers got us off to was superb and they put the pressure back on. It made it a lot more easier for us and those scores were a lot more than what was seen on the score sheet. It was great fun doing it,” Root added.
In fact, it is England’s fourth straight successful run chase after New Zealand was swept 3-0 last month under new captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.
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