England made history with a chase of 378 to beat India on Tuesday at Edgbaston.
Chasing victory, England went into the final day needing 119 runs with seven wickets in hand. Root went on to smash a masterly 142 not out, his 28th test century, forging a mammoth 269-run partnership for the unbroken fourth wicket with Bairstow.
Root’s elegant hundred was studded with 19 boundaries and a six. Bairstow’s unbeaten 114, which included 15 fours and a six, was his second hundred of the match as England triumphed with two sessions to spare.
England’s previous highest successful run chase came in 2019 when they reached a 359-run target in an Ashes test against Australia on the back of Stokes’s brilliant unbeaten century.
Here we look at the biggest targets chased down and how England’s effort compares.
418 – West Indies v Australia, 2003
After matching first innings of 240, Australia must have been confident after making 417 second time around in Antigua. Brett Lee took four wickets but centuries from Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul broke the back of the chase before Omari Banks and Vasbert Drakes finished the job with an unbroken stand of 46.
414 – South Africa v Australia, 2008
Brad Haddin’s innings of 94 seemed to put Australia out of reach but Graeme Smith’s hundred set the platform and he was emulated by AB de Villiers, while Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy all made fifties in an ultimately comfortable 414 for four.
404 – Australia v England, 1948
England captain Norman Yardley declared on 365 for eight once his side’s lead passed 400 at Headingley, but Arthur Morris and Sir Don Bradman hit huge hundreds in a remarkable seven-wicket triumph.
403 – India v West Indies, 1976
The Windies also declared after Alvin Kallicharran’s hundred built an imposing lead, but tons from Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath saw India to 406 for four – actually outscoring the Australian innings ranked just ahead of them.
395 – West Indies v Bangladesh, 2021
Bangladesh, with Shakib Al Hasan absent hurt, declared at 223 for eight and Kyle Mayers hit an astonishing 210 not out, putting on 216 with fellow debutant Nkrumah Bonner (86) to see his side home by three wickets.
388 – Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, 2017
Asela Gunaratne made a match-winning 80 not out, putting on 121 with Niroshan Dickwella (80) and and unbroken 67 with Dilruwan Perera in a score of 391 for six.
387 – India v England, 2008
Twin hundreds from Andrew Strauss put England in control but Virender Sehwag hammered 83 before Sachin Tendulkar (103no) and Yuvraj Singh (85no) eased India to a four-wicket win.
378 – England v India, 2022
Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow hit twin centuries as England’s revitalised Test side roared into the history books, surpassing their previous best of 359 against Australia three years ago.
377 – Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 2015
Pakistan recovered from 13 for two to 255 for three, thanks to centuries from Shan Masood and Younis Khan, and the latter was joined by Misbah-ul-Haq to seal victory. Misbah’s match-winning six saw them actually score 382 for three.
369 – Australia v Pakistan, 1999
Inzamam-ul-Haq’s century underpinned Pakistan’s second innings of 392 but Australia charged to a four-wicket win, Justin Langer with 127 before Adam Gilchrist took centre stage with a rapid 149no.
