India’s desire to clinch the Test series against England has been thwarted by a magnificent unbeaten 150*-run partnership between Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow for the fourth wicket in a chase of 378. England now only need 119 runs on the final day of the ENG vs IND fifth Test 2022 to tie the 5-match series 2-2. With 7 wickets in hand, the hosts are surely in the driving seat to clinch the fifth match at Edgbaston in Birmingham. If England win the contest, they will complete their highest ever run chase. Let’s take a look at the match scenario for the fifth Test IND vs ENG 2022.

England vs India 2022: Fifth Test match scenario

Jonny Bairstow is in the form of his life at the moment, scoring runs for fun. The aggressive-minded middle-order batter has already scored five Test centuries this year. With an unbeaten 72*-run in the second innings, Bairstow is nearing a sixth Test century of the year 2022 on Tuesday (July 5). He has formed an undefeated century stand with former skipper Joe Root for the fourth wicket, guiding England to 259/3 in a chase of 378 at the end of day-4.

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Joe Root has been in superb form too this year and will complete his fifth Test century if he can add 24 more runs to his 76* unbeaten knock. Besides, the 100-run partnership between Root and Bairstow is the 10th between them in the Test format.

Earlier, England had a perfect start in their chase of 378. The openers – Alex Lees (56) and Zak Crawley (46) – made a 103-run partnership before captain Bumrah struck first for India. In fact, India managed to pick up three wickets within a span of four overs and England were down to 109/3. However, a counter-attacking approach by Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow has taken the game away from India.

A confident and solid batting approach was expected from the Indian batters in the second innings as the Edgbaston pitch traditionally gets better for batting as the game progresses.

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Besides, India had an advantage of 132 runs over England when they started their second innings. Except for Cheteshwar Pujara’s 66 and Rishabh Pant’s 57, India’s batting was once again disappointing. They were bowled out for 245 after the lunch break on day 4, giving England a 378-run target. English skipper Ben Stokes was the most successful bowler in this innings as he picked up 4 wickets.

England are eyeing a historic chase

England’s best-ever run chase in the Test format is 359 runs against Australia at Headingley, Leeds in 2019. They will break the record if they can win the ENG vs IND fifth Test 2022. On four occasions, England have successfully chased down 300+ scores, three of them against their arch-rivals Australia. Let’s take a look at England’s successful run chase in the fourth innings.

England’s 300+ run chase in Test cricket 

   Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/

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Bottom Line

Given the current state of the match, India realistically have little chance of defeating England with the sort of form they have been in since Ben Stokes took over as captain. England can collect the required 119 runs within the first session of day 5. Overall, the match is heavily favored by the hosts. On the other hand, the Indian campaign is hoping for some magical performances from their bowling unit to pull off a sensational victory in the ENG vs IND fifth Test 2022.