England have unearthed a new template when it comes to Test cricket, a template heavily dependent on their formidable batting.
 
Ben Stokes’s men are on their way to elevating chasing to a fine art in the five-day format. Ever since he and Brendon McCullum came together at the head of the management group, they have taken the fear of batting fourth out of the equation, confident that the attacking resources at their disposal can hunt down any target. 

England pacer Chris Woakes celebrates the wicket of KL Rahul yesterday. Pic/Getty Images

In the last three years alone, England have pulled off their two highest chases (378 and 371), both against India. It was, therefore, hardly a surprise that at Edgbaston on Wednesday, Stokes put an addled, confused India in for a second time in the series. Having batted themselves into promising positions, India were forced to rely on pugnacious skipper Shubman Gill (114 not out) and the phlegmatic Ravindra Jadeja (41 not out) to bail them out after courting trouble at 211 for five, some 45 minutes after tea. At stumps on Day One, India were 310-5.