England team started the 5th Test match with impeccable bowling to dangle the Indian team at 95/5 until Rishabh Pant entered the pool and changed the game, entirely. The Indian team led by captain, Jasprit Bumrah, and vice-captain, Rishabh Pant, kept fighting and secured all the verticals for pulling the match their way. England failed to outperform India in the first and second inning as India gained a massive edge over the hosts by 300+ lead as a target. England in response to Indian bowling held their wickets and gave Indian bowling a tough call. The team is merely 119 runs away from closing on their victory which would become a historic moment for the English side that has lately adopted an aggressive style of playing Test cricket under Brendan McCullam and skipper Ben Stokes. England is known to pull the chases and this chase would put them at the top of records held in the past in red-ball cricket.
1) Headingley Leeds, 2019
This chase at Headingley against Australia in the cult classic Ashes series, 2019, put England on top in the red-ball cricket. While chasing impossible 359 runs, the England team was reduced to 286-9 until Ben Stokes took up an unseemingly partnership with Jack Leech to pile up 76 runs that seemed impossible. It was Ben Stokes who put skids under the Australian team’s bowling and won the test match to record history golden letters.
2) Australia at Melbourne, 1928
Wednesday’s encounter against India couldn’t be more special for England as the team will send a wave of surprises in world cricket if the team wins the impossible chase. In 1928, England chased down 332 while losing seven wickets in the Ashes. The team fought their way out under the leadership of English skipper, Percy Chapman. Herbert Sutcliffe had scored 135 off 462 deliveries to architect the win of England against Australia.
3) Australia at Leeds, 2001
Mark Butcher’s unbeaten 173 off 227 deliveries at the Leeds paved a way for England’s team to punch above their weight in 2001. Against the likes of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee, and Shane Warne, the England team went on to chase 315/4. Skipper Nasser Hussain supported Mark Butcher with a fine knock of 55 runs, but it was Mark Butcher who made sure England wrapped up the match in victory. England was toiling at 33/2.
4) New Zealand at Christchurch, 1997
England managed to pull this unimaginable chase in the foreign land when Daniel Vettori scalped four wickets of the English batting lineup to leave a mountain of 307 runs on the board. Mike Atherton’s 118 runs, John Crawley’s 40 runs, and Dominic Cork’s 39 runs saved the match and wrapped it under the English celebration. England toiled at 231/6 to further chase massive 307 runs.
