Highest successful run-chases in Test cricket
England scripted a famous win over India in the fifth Test match of the Pataudi Trophy at Edgbaston in Birmingham on July 5, Tuesday, and also completed their highest successful chase in Test cricket. England chased down 378 runs in 76.4 overs with seven wickets in hand, courtesy of unbeaten hundreds from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow in the second innings.
India set up a substantial total of 416 runs in the first innings, thanks to hundreds from Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. They followed it up by bowling out England for 284 runs in 61.3 overs, and taking a 132-run lead. Bairstow top-scored in the innings with a knock of 106 runs off 140 balls and Mohammed Siraj ended with the best bowling figures of four wickets for 66 runs. England, in reply, restricted India to only 245 runs.
England’s tempo in the second innings was set by their openers Alex Less and Zak Crawley, who put up 107 runs for the first wicket. The duo passed over the baton to Root and Bairstow, who took England over the line with an unbeaten fourth-wicket partnership of 269 runs. This chase by England stands eighth on the list of highest successful chases in Tests.
Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow guide England to history
West Indies remain at the top, chasing 418 in 128.5 overs with three wickets in hand against Australia at St. John’s in Antigua in 2003. With this chase, England beat their previous best of 359, set in 2019 against Australia in Headingley, Leeds. They won that match by one wicket, as Ben Stokes scored an unbeaten knock of 135 off 219 balls. Stokes and Jack Leach put up 76 runs for the last wicket, before sealing the win over Australia in the 2019 Ashes.
The chase of 378 against India was only the fourth time England successfully completed a chase of a target of 300 or above in Test cricket. And with this win, England levelled the series 2-2 to avoid a defeat.
Highest Succesful run-chases in Test matches:
- West Indies (418/7) against Australia, 2003
- South Africa (414/4) against Australia, 2008
- Australia (404/3) against England, 1948
- India (406/4) against West Indies, 1976
- West Indies (395/7) against Bangladesh, 2021
- Sri Lanka (391/6) against Zimbabwe, 2017
- India (387/4) against England, 2008
- England (378/3) against India, 2022
- Pakistan (382/3) against Sri Lanka, 2015
- Australia (369/6) against Pakistan, 1999
