When three wickets fell in 16 balls either side of tea, with Virat Kohli and India reaching fever pitch at an electric Edgbaston, a record-breaking England run-chase looked a long, long way away.
Not now it doesn’t. Not after Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow combined to provide them with a tantalising vision of what would be one of the greatest victories in their Test history.
England’s attempt to reach 378 to win this final Test, 15 more than they scored when pulling off the Miracle of Headingley in 2019, is, thrillingly, within reach.
Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root’s partnership of 150 off 197 balls rescued England on day four
And victory today would complete the transformation from the near rock bottom of winter to the great Test entertainers for whom nothing is impossible.
England will begin the final day needing another 119 runs with, crucially, Root and Bairstow at the crease and the sting taken out of what had become an Edgbaston cauldron, with Kohli whipping India’s supporters into a frenzy.
Things could still change if India separate these two prolific Yorkshiremen this morning but they will have to do it quickly to stop this Test running away from them and England seizing a share of this elongated series in the most dramatic way imaginable.
What an achievement that would be for Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. What vindication the best and biggest of four successive successful run-chases would be for their win or bust, high-octane brand of cricket. Goodness, it would be difficult to imagine Stokes ever electing to bat first again if England pull this off.
This would be on another level to those three chases against New Zealand, too, for this series decider, postponed for almost a year after India walked out of Old Trafford, has come against a better, more skilful and more aggressive team.
Alex Lees scored 56 runs before tea as England made a strong start in their 378-run chase
His fellow opener Zak Crawley made 46 before he was bowled by India captain Jasprit Bumrah
At the centre of that, as ever, has been Kohli. He seemed to have forgotten he is not captain any more as he again pushed acceptable levels of behaviour to their limits during a highly charged passage of play when India appeared to seize control after England had come out with all guns blazing in pursuit of history.
So turbo-charged were England, so determined to prove they can chase anything, that Alex Lees and Zak Crawley came flying out of the traps and this world-class Indian attack were flayed to all parts of Edgbaston for the fastest century opening stand in English history.
Three figures were reached, astonishingly, in 19.5 overs and with them came England’s first century opening stand since Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed combined in the previous match in this series at the Oval last year. And that took 40.3 overs.
Truly, this was extraordinary stuff, Lees throwing off all the shackles that had so restricted him in his debut series against West Indies to provide a passable impression of his childhood hero Matthew Hayden.
Crawley, too, showed why Stokes is so determined to keep faith with him, driving gloriously on both sides of the wicket but also being more judicious with his shot selection.
Bumrah is congratulated by his team-mates after breaking up the Lees-Crawley partnership
But it was when Crawley made his first misjudgment on 46 in leaving a straight one from Jasprit Bumrah which took his off-stump that India and Kohli sniffed their opportunity.
Suddenly everything changed, Kohli imploring the large Indian supporting contingent in the crowd to make more noise, shushing England supporters in the Hollies Stand, celebrating wildly and engaging Lees in heated conversation as the sides left for tea.
The change in mood seemed to affect Ollie Pope who jabbed at the first ball after the interval and edged the excellent Bumrah to Rishabh Pant. Then, agonisingly, Lees was caught ball watching as Root called him for a single and was run out for 56. So animated was Kohli after that he got a stern ticking off from Aleem Dar.
But cometh the hour cometh a batsman who has long since reached greatness in Root and one who is touching that status more with each innings in Bairstow.
This was the game, right here and now, and India burned two reviews on Root on 11 and 16 in pushing for the breakthrough, with stand-in captain Bumrah off the field and Pant seemingly in charge and reckless in his judgment.
Bairstow could have been caught on 14 but his drive at Mohammed Siraj burst through the fingers of Hanuma Vihari and he then edged Shardul Thakur close to the diving Pant on 40. Otherwise this was an unbroken partnership of 150 of the highest quality, the pair bustling between the crease and bristling with Bazball positivity.
Ben Stokes (centre) took India’s final three wickets as England chase a record 378 runs to win
Root resumes today on 76 and Bairstow is with him on 72, making a mockery of any outdated concept of playing for the close by smashing Siraj over deep square leg for six with 6.30pm in sight.
How India will rue their missed opportunities if England win. They should have put this game out of reach when they resumed, 257 ahead with seven wickets in hand.
But only 92 runs were added, with England’s short-ball tactics at the tail bearing fruit as Stokes ended with four wickets. That will haunt India at what promises to be a full Edgbaston, the free tickets snapped up last night.
If England do it Test cricket might never be the same again.
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