How England triumphed over India in the historic 5th Test at Edgbaston

Team India at one stage were looking all set to win the Test match in Edgbaston. But England made a stunning comeback on Day 4 to win the Covid-delayed fifth Test on Tuesday to level the five-match series 2-2 and retain the Pataudi Trophy.

Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow scored brilliant tons as England made a record fourth-innings chase to beat India by seven wickets.

England have been on a winning run chasing tough totals in the fourth innings of a Test recently. In the previous series against New Zealand, the Ben Stokes-led side chased down fourth innings targets of 278, 299 and 296.

For India it's an opportunity lost. India's bowling attack, which has been talked about a lot recently, looked completely out of sorts during the last two days of the Test.

We take a look how India lost the plot and how England made a comeback to win the Test match:

ROOT AND BAIRSTOW MAGIC

• Even though Alex Lees and Zak Crawley made a 100-plus opening stand, scoring 378 would not have been possible without the match-winning 269-run stand between Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. Both Bairstow and Root have been in outstanding form in Tests this year, especially while chasing.

• Root (142 not out) scored his 28th Test century and Bairstow (114 not out) scored his 12th Test ton and second in the game.
• Root has scored 11, 115 not out, 176, 3, 5, 86 not out, 5 and 142 not out in his last eight innings. Bairstow has scored 1, 16, 8, 136, 162, 71 not out, 106 and 114 not out in the last eight innings, reported PTI.

?? ????????ANT ROOT ??@root66's inventiveness comes to the fore as he reverse ramps @imShard over third man for a maximum ??

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— SonyLIV (@SonyLIV) July 5, 2022

• Bairstow became the first England player to hit two centuries in the same Test since Andrew Strauss did it against India at Chennai in 2008.
• It was Bairstow's sixth century in the last eight Tests in 2022 and Root's fifth ton in the last seven Tests.

POOR BATTING BY INDIA IN 2ND INNINGS

• Indian batsmen looked in top form in the first innings, and centuries from Rishabh Pant (146) and Ravindra Jadeja (104) powered the Jasprit Bumrah-led side to 416 runs. But, in the second innings, Indian batters struggled against the England pacers and the whole team was bowled out for 245 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara (66) and Pant (57) were the only players to cross the 50-run mark. Captain Stokes led from the front and took four wickets, while Stuart Broad and Matty Potts picked up two wickets each.

Bazball was on show as ?????????????? turned the tables ??

???? looked a pale shadow of themselves on Day 4?? as they are on the verge of losing #ENGvIND 5th Test ??

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• While Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer struggled against the pacers, Shubman Gill also failed to impress as an opener. And Virat Kohli has been struggling with the bat for a long time now. Another good partnership, and India could have given England a total that would have put the hosts on the back foot.
• Rahul Dravid, India's cricket legend and the current head coach said that the repeated failures of his batters in the third innings of a Test match is a concern and they will sit with the national selectors to address the issue. Since Dravid took over as the India head coach, the team has lost its last three overseas Test matches.

BOWLERS FAIL MISERABLY IN FOURTH INNINGS

• India lost its grip on the match on Day 4. When Lees and Crawley came in to bat in the fourth innings, we were expecting the match to be over by Tea on Day 5. But, the England openers looked in complete control and the Indian pacers, including Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj failed to trouble them. A solid 107-run opening stand in just 21 overs gave England the much-needed boost and the match was now hanging in balance.
• Bumrah picked up two wickets in quick succession and Lees was run out. It seemed like India was back in control, but that was it. After being 109/3, England finished at 378/3 on Day 5. Indian bowlers looked completely out of ideas and got no help from the pitch either.

• While Bumrah and Shami looked good in patches, Siraj and Shardul Thakur failed to make any impact. Ravindra Jadeja, who has been known to break crucial partnerships also wasn't able to pick a wicket.

Bottom line: This defeat is going to hurt India real bad. Not only have they missed out on winning the Pataudi Trophy, the loss in Edgbaston would dent India's chances of finishing in top-two in the World Test Championship (WTC) table.

This is also their third straight Test match defeat in countries where they have struggled in Test matches: England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Dravid would have to make some tough decisions to fix the team if they want to win the World Test Championship this year.