As Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow smashed the final series right at noon, it not only leveled a five-match series that had been held for the better part of a year at 2-2, but certainly sent a shock wave through the game. England, under new management in Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, are now a side seriously feared in the chase in Test cricket. After all, it was their fourth feat this summer, surpassing the 277, 299 and 296 they scored against New Zealand and also their biggest run chase, on the day Stokes completed his career-defining Ashes heist at Headingley in 2019 and 359. abolished. This time there wasn’t as much drama. Instead, Stokes could sit in the balcony next and watch a cool chase led by heavenly centuries from Root, 142 not out from 173 balls, and Bairstow, unbeaten on 114 from 145. In the former’s case , was his 11th since the start of 2021 and a 28th overall, the last fourth in five innings of relentless form. India, so dominant at Lord’s and the Oval when they took a 2-1 lead last summer, were virtually powerless to stop the two Yorkshiremen from completing the final 119 runs in 90 minutes on the fifth morning. The inevitable was noticeable when the first exchanges failed to achieve the breakthrough that the tourists so longed for. Both batsmen had started the day in the 70s and, in a reversal of their roles in the Leeds chase last week, it was Root who came out of the garage like a purring supercar, three figures emerging from 136 balls with a series of frictionless Instructions and drivers before his new party trick – the reverse scoop for six – dazzled the fifth-day crowd. The Spin: sign up and receive our weekly cricket email. Bairstow didn’t have to wait long for his 12th Test century and a second in the match, his blistering single off Ravindra Jadeja reaching the milestone off 138 balls. Having supported England’s first innings with 284 all out for 106 – a total that still had a 132-run deficit – there was no doubt as to the player of this thrilling match. He conceded 21 runs to win and Bairstow turned on the afterburners with a flurry of meaty shots from the beleaguered Mohammed Siraj. Root leveled the scores with a reverse four off Jadeja, before an errant replay completed that final bit of history.
