Even with rain threatening to foil a full day’s play at the Headingley grounds in Leeds on Tuesday, Ben Stokes and England are expected to go full-throttle in the bid to chase down a record total against India in the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
FOLLOW: IND vs ENG DAY 5, LEEDS LIVE UPDATES
Headingley has seen plenty of fourth-innings heroics over the years, including Stokes’ special ton against Australia in the 2019 Ashes. The venue boasts of the highest batting average in the last innings across the last decade. It is also home to a record Day 5 chase by Don Bradman’s ‘Invicibles’ in the 1948 Ashes, when the visitors chased down a whopping 404-run target on day five against England. Interestingly, England had recorded their highest-ever chase in their last Test meeting at home against India, back in 2022 at Edgbaston. Posed with a 378-run target, England gunned down more than half the score against a Jasprit Bumrah-led India in the early days of ‘Bazball’ under Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.
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Steered by centuries from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, England overhauled the 378-run target in only 76.4 overs to produce an emphatic result and draw the series 2-2 back then. Weather willing, Stokes and Co. will need to pull off a similar miracle to stub Shubman Gill’s unit at Headingley this time. Since Australia in that Leeds epic 77 years ago, no team has managed to record 350 runs to win a Test on the final day.
Highest Test scores chased by England
| Team | Opposition | Win Margin | Target | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | India | 7 wickets | 378 | Birmingham | 2022 |
| England | Australia | 1 wicket | 359 | Headingley, Leeds | 2019 |
| England | Australia | 3 wickets | 332 | Melbourne | 1928 |
| England | Australia | 6 wickets | 315 | Headingley, Leeds | 2001 |
| England | New Zealand | 4 wickets | 305 | Christchurch | 1997 |
Highest Test targets chased in England
- 404 – Australia beat England by seven wickets in 1948 (Leeds)
- 378 -England beat India by seven wickets in 2022 (Birmingham)
- 359 – England beat Australia by one wicket in 2019 (Leeds)
- 342 – West Indies beat England by nine wickets in 1984 (Lord’s)
- 322 – West Indies beat England by five wickets in 2017 (Leeds)
