We rate the performances of England XI at Edgbaston after their record-breaking seven-wicket win over India, chasing 378 to draw the series 2-2; Jonny Bairstow's back-to-back hundreds earns him full marks, but who else impressed?
Wednesday 6 July 2022 06:19, UK
England were once more at their 'Bazball' best in the rescheduled fifth Test against India, chasing down their highest score in Test cricket of 378 on the final morning, earning who full marks? Find out in our player ratings from Edgbaston...
Alex Lees - 7
6 & 56
Though Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow continue to steal the headlines in this England side, is there a batter more transformed in his approach than Lees?
His 44-ball fifty in the second innings - the fourth fastest by an England opener - was just the latest evidence of the left-handed opener superbly merging his classic defensive technique with some Ben Stokes-style aggression, occasionally even skipping down the pitch to India's seamers with the same reckless abandon as his skipper.
Speaking to Sky Sports after his knock, Lees said of his approach that he "just wanted to try and give it a good whack," before adding: "The numbers are still not where I would like them to be. I want to score big hundreds."
That could well have come this week were it not for Lees being, in the words of Mark Butcher on commentary, "barbecued" by Root in a calamitous run out that saw his swashbuckling second innings effort ended all too soon.
Zak Crawley - 6
9 & 46
"For me, it was about the shots Lees played and the ones Crawley didn't," said Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain in reflecting on the pair's fabulous century stand in the second innings that gifted England's record run-chase the perfect platform.
Crawley's 46 is not enough to keep the critics at bay for the South Africa series later this summer, especially given his familiar mode of dismissal in the first innings when out nicking to third slip on the drive again.
But he put the shot away second time round, displaying far better judgement outside his off stump, leaving superbly well, to prompt Nasser's praise. "When the ball stops moving, he can drive on the up - he has earned the right to get that big booming drive out," Hussain added. "If Crawley leaves like he has today, he will have a much longer Test career."
All that being said, the cruel irony of Crawley's eventual dismissal - bowled by Jasprit Bumrah when not playing a shot - will certainly no doubt not be lost on him.
Ollie Pope - 5
10 & 0
A disappointing end to what has otherwise been a redemptive run in the side so far this summer.
There was not much he could have done about his second innings dismissal, a brutal delivery to get first up after the tea interval from Bumrah that he couldn't help but feather an edge on through to the keeper, but it's his demise first time around that will so frustrate him as he went searching for an extravagant drive to a full, wide ball, snicking to second slip.
Pope did at least have a starring role in Sky Sports' helmet cam innovation in this Test, albeit serving as director of the action from his position at short leg.
Joe Root - 9
31 & 142no, 1-23 & 0-17
The fact that Root's efforts in this Test don't earn him the highest mark of the XI speaks only to the truly bonkers form that the man below him in the batting order is in.
Indulge me in some stats for a second: Root averaged 105.28 across the entire five-match series (the first four played in 2021), while he has improved that mark to 113.80 in the four Tests so far this summer. He has five hundreds already for the calendar year - the England record which he jointly holds is six - and 11 total since the start 2021 when his purple patch really took hold. Ridiculous.
And that word is most appropriate to describe his latest of those centuries, certainly the reverse-ramp for six that he again let out of the box shortly after bringing up his 28th Test ton, reached in just 136 balls - with England chasing their record-highest total in Test cricket, remember… Pressure? What pressure?
Not only that, but he took the wicket of England's chief tormenter in the Test, Rishabh Pant, in the first innings and then took a blinding catch at slip to literally play a hand in his dismissal in the second - one of two smart grabs for the innings, as he also showed terrific reflexes to pocket a Virat Kohli edge via a deflection off Sam Billings' gloves.
Jonny Bairstow - 10
106 & 114no
Full marks. Next.
Every time you think Bairstow's batting brilliance can't be bettered this summer, that England's 'Bazball' revolution can't shock us any further, such notions are dismissed just as emphatically as Bairstow blasts the ball to the boundary.
Back-to-back hundreds here means it's now four in his last five innings for the Yorkshireman, with just the small matter of an unbeaten 71 off 44 balls in England's last bonkers run-chase at Headingley serving as the only exception. "Batting nirvana", you might say.
Bairsow's first-innings 106 bailed the hosts out of trouble after they'd slipped to 83-5 in response to India's 416, while his 114 not out in the second was no less impressive as England cantered to victory. He may have lost the race with Root to reach three figures on the final morning, but he nosed ahead of his great mate 6-5 in terms of tons in 2022. Remarkable.
Ben Stokes - 7
25, 1-47 & 4-33
Michael Atherton described Stokes as a "victim of virtue" on commentary this week, with the new England Test captain so eager to lead by example in showcasing the aggressive approach that he wants his side to adopt, that he is almost throwing his wicket away for the cause.
He was certainly guilty of doing that in the first innings. Coming to the crease with England, as mentioned, already five down for 83, the situation called for a touch more caution from the captain.
Stokes, among his countless qualities, is supremely skilled at knowing when to counter-attack with the bat, but his approach on the third morning was off and he failed to learn his lesson despite being dropped twice - including at mid-off the ball before his eventual dismissal to the same fielder.
"It was reckless batting," former England batsman Kevin Pietersen said. "It was not defending your wicket, not protecting the value of your wicket.
"I would tell Ben that he doesn't need to try and prove a point by being ultra-aggressive. The bowler needs to be bowling his best deliveries in order to get Stokes out."
That being said, as skipper there is no arguing with Stokes' methods right now, with his side making it four wins in four to open his reign, the same amount of crucial second-innings wickets he picked up with the ball - including a snorter to see off Kohli - that helped set up another famous run chase.
Sam Billings - 6
36, two catches
In the context of the game, Billings' 36 first-innings runs are likely to get lost among the shuffle, put he provided hugely useful support to Bairstow, allowing him to extend his century streak as the pair put on 92 for the seventh wicket. In the face of some fine Indian bowling, it looked anything but Billings' third Test cap.
His two catches for the Test should have been three, but he instead earned an assist of sorts for his second-innings spillage of Kohli straight to Root. He otherwise didn't put a foot wrong, but will surely lose his place to the fit-again Ben Foakes by the time the South Africa series rolls around next month.
Stuart Broad - 5
1-89 & 2-58
A touch harsh on Broad, with three wickets to show for the Test match - which included his 550th in Test. But, arguably, only one of those wickets came in a conventional manner, with Hanuma Vihari edging to third slip in the second innings on the drive to a fuller delivery.
His other two dismissals were to balls banged in halfway down, with Cheteshwar Pujara slapping a short, wide one straight to the fielder at point and Mohammed Shami uppercutting another down to third man.
The Shami wicket came as England lost their cool on the second morning with their short-ball ploy to the Indian tail, a tactic that saw Broad concede a Test-record 35 runs in an over to stir memories of the now 36-year-old being smashed for six sixes in a row by Yuvraj Singh when just a young cherub back in the 2007 World T20.
Matthew Potts - 7
2-105 & 2-50
Potts continues to impress. Yet, since his seven-for on debut at Lord's against New Zealand, he has got into the rather unfortunate habit of not returning the lofty numbers in the wicket column that his skilled bowling has otherwise deserved.
He has, however, also developed a far happier knack for getting the opposition's key batsmen out. Having dismissed Kane Williamson three times out of four, he had his radar firmly fixed on another of cricket's 'Big Four' firmly in this Test, claiming the key wicket of Kohli in the first innings, dragging on to his stumps when caught in two minds as to whether to play or leave.
Particularly potent to right-handers, his day one dismissal prompted Nasser to proclaim the Durham fast bowler as "the find of the summer".
Jack Leach - 6
0-71, 1-28
Fresh from taking 10 wickets in a 'player of the match' showing at Headingley, it was a far lighter workload for the left-arm spinner in this Test, though his nine overs for the cost of a massive 71 runs in the first innings - plundered to all parts by Pant - would have no doubt inflicted a greater scar than any of his 70 overs of grind from a week ago.
Such punishment only served to make his comeback in the second innings all the more impressive though as, with Pant again in fine fettle - following up his first-innings 148 with 57 - Leach not only dismissed the flamboyant left-hander, but he got through 12 tidy overs for only 28 runs, tying up one end and allowing for Stokes and co to bowl with hostility at the other.
James Anderson - 8
5-60 & 1-46
Another superb showing from the evergreen Anderson, though again it speaks to England's brilliance with the bat that his 32nd Test five-for, earned in the first innings, has somewhat crept under the radar. As has been the case for Anderson's fine efforts throughout the summer.
The 39-year-old has taken 17 wickets in three Tests at an average of just 18.29, which is his lowest mark at home since the summer of 2017 and the fourth-lowest of his remarkable 20-year career in English conditions.
Anderson dismissed both openers for the 28th time in his Test career, extending his record over next-best Glenn McGrath (26), while he returned to mop up the tail on the second morning as those faltered around him, adding the scalp of Shubman Gill again early in the second innings.
