Birmingham: Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow's centuries fetched England a historic seven-wicket win over India, finishing off their record-breaking 378-run chase in the first session of Day 5 of the delayed fifth Test at Edgbaston here on Tuesday.
Root (142 not out) and Bairstow (114 no) had done the heavy duty of reducing the defit runs to go past victory post on Monday itself, which helped them to chase it successfully today without much pressure on them.
They improved their fourth wicket stand to an outstanding 269 runs.
With this win England drew the five-Test series 2-2 and denied India a series win in their backyard for nearly 20 years. The success also meant a lot for the new England coach Brendon McCullum as he registered fourth consecutive Test match win since he assumed charge.
More than doing ticks with the ball, the Indian side focused more on changing the ball and hardly done anything to rejuvenate from their iota of rash bowling and poor fielding placement.
One of those early appeals was coceded to India, but that did not help much as Bairstow and Root thrashed visiting bowlers to all corners. A flurry of boundaries by Root. He notched up his ton with a stab at a Mohammed Siraj ball that flew over second slip to the fence.
Root initially maintained control of the strike and the scoring, making Bairstow wait until the 18th over of the day for his century. A single did the job, with Root making his ground in time before a direct hit to celebrate with his team-mate.
And another single, this time from Root, concluded a chase that ultimately became a saunter, cementing England's ability to seemingly match any target with the bat in this thrilling new era.
Brief Scores: England 284 & 378/3 (Joe Root 142*, Jonny Bairstow 114*, Alex Lees 56, Zak Crawley 46; Jasprit Bumrah 2-53) beat India 245 & 416 by 7 wickets. (UNI)
