If it was England Cricket Team of 2021, India would have been confident of bowling them out in a 398-run defence. But no one is confident anymore as fans and former cricketers alike expect a Bazball day 4 on Monday in the IND vs ENG 2nd Test. And England pacer James Anderson is confident that his side can chase that target down on Day 4. In fact, coach Brendon McCullum has given them a target to chase down even a 600-run target.
“We feel well in the game. We got sat down by the coach Brendon McCullum last night and he said ‘If India get 600 ahead we’re going to try and chase it down’. That’s exactly what we’re going to do. We will try to chase down 399 in 60 or 70 overs tomorrow,” James Anderson told TNT Sport at the end of Day 3 of IND vs ENG 2nd Test in Vizag.
With Ravichandran Ashwin removing Ben Duckett, England need 332 runs on Day 4 while India are 9 wickets away from a win. Duckett and Zak Crawley added 50 runs for the opening stand in no time as England saw the day out at 64/1, scoring at 4.79 runs an over.
Can England chase down 399?
England have already scripted history against India when they chased down 378 runs in Edgbaston in 2022. Ben Stokes & Co have even chased down 359 and against Austalia in 2019. With Bazball being their approach, there is no reason why they cannot.
England’s highest chase in Test
| Score | Target | Opposition | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 378/3 | 378 | India | Birmingham | 01 July 2022 |
| 362/9 | 359 | Australia | Leeds | 22 August 2019 |
| 332/7 | 332 | Australia | Melbourne | 29 December 1928 |
| 315/4 | 315 | Australia | Leeds | 16 August 2001 |
| 307/6 | 305 | New Zealand | Christchurch | 14 February 1997 |
However, England are in India and the Day 4 pitch is not a walk in the park for batters. Shubman Gill has already confirmed that the pitch is not easy for batting anymore even after scoring a century. Hence, despite the confidence, England would be set for a tough Day 4. Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel would be hungry for wickets. Jasprit Bumrah can also hammer in with yorkers to break England’s confidence.
In Asia, England’s highest successful chase was only 209 against Pakistan way back in 1961. In India, they have only chased down 208.
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England’s highest successful chases in Asia
- 209/5 vs Pakistan – Lahore (1961)
- 209/1 vs Bangladesh – Mirpur (2009)
- 208/4 vs India – Delhi (1972)
- 170/2 vs Pakistan – Karachi (2022)
Missed opportunity?
But India would be ruing not to take the lead past 450 despite a century from Shubman Gill. India folded for 255 in the 2nd innings. Axar Patel (45) and R Ashwin (29) only extended that lead. James Anderson claimed that the spinners did a great job at restricting India.
“The nerves were there to see today when they were batting. The way they batted, they didn’t know how many runs were enough. I think we stuck at our task really well today, they put in a partnership at one point and I think the way the spinners kept going and kept toiling was brilliant and now we’re in a great position and we’re going to give it a great crack tomorrow,” James Anderson said.
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