Riding on Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten hundreds, England beat India by seven wickets to level the five-match series 2-2 at Edgbaston on Tuesday. By doing so, the hosts once again denied Team India a Test series victory on English soil.
Root (142 not out) and Bairstow (114 not out) dominated the proceedings on Day 5, steering the hosts to their highest ever successful run chase of 378 runs. This is also the second-highest successful Test run chase in England and the ninth-highest successful run chase in men’s Test history.
The duo's excellent batting won hearts across the globe as Twitter exploded with congratulatory messages.
Earlier in the day, England resumed play at 259/3, needing just 119 runs more to register a win. Overnight batters Root and Bairstow continued their fine form Day Four to the last day, taking their side home before the end of day’s first session.
Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar was impressed by the manner of England’s victory and called it a special win. The former Indian captain also praised Root and Bairstow’s fine form and sublime batting ability.
Former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan, however, had a different opinion. According to him India had given up too easily against an opponent they had dominated for most part of the series last year.
Meanwhile, former England captain Michael Vaughan did not waste any time to take a dig at Wasim Jaffer, the former Indian opener, as hosts England registered a historic win over the visitors. The two are quite known for their regular banter across the social media platform.
However, Jaffer did not shy away from praising England and was impressed by the way Bairstow batted in both the innings of the match. The Englishman scored 106 in the first innings and made 114 in the second innings to grab the Man of the Match award.
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