When England skipper Ben Stokes elected to field on Day One, saying his side is confident of chasing down scores like they had done against New Zealand, there was a lot of criticism and debate since Edgbaston generally favours teams batting first. But as England reached 259/3 in their chase of 378 on Day Four on Monday, one got a feeling he knew what he was talking about. Hello ‘Bazball’!
With the pitch flattening and the sun out, the much vaunted Indian bowling, barring skipper Jasprit Bumrah, looked toothless as Joe Root (batting 76, 110 balls, 9x4) and Jonny Bairstow (batting 72, 89 balls, 8x4) played risk-free cricket and added 150 runs in the post-tea session.
