3 Attachment(s)
Ben Stokes' epic innings leads England to record-breaking run-chase
Jack Leach clung on alongside Ben Stokes Getty Images
S Rajesh
Stats editor,
1 - Partnership of more than 76 for the 10th wicket in a fourth-innings Test win. The only other instance of more runs being scored was also in 2019, when Kusal Perera and Vishwa Fernando put together 78 as Sri Lanka recovered from 226 for 9 to reach the victory target of 304 against South Africa in Durban in February this year.
359 - The target that England chased down was their highest ever in Test history. Their previous best was 332, way back in 1928 in Melbourne. It's the joint ninth-highest by any team, and the second-best at Headingley, next only to Australia's 404 in 1948.
6 - Instances of Australia losing by one wicket, which is nearly 50% of the 14 such results in Test history. No other team has been at the receiving end of such a narrow defeat more than three times. Since 1990, Australia have suffered four one-wicket defeats - the previous three were to Pakistan in 1994, to West Indies in 1999, and to India in 2010. This is England's fourth such win.
67 - England's first-innings total. There are only three instances of teams scoring fewer runs in an innings, in a Test match they ended up winning, and they were all in the 1880s.
2 - Higher scores than Ben Stokes' unbeaten 135 in fourth-innings wins for England: Mark Butcher scored an unbeaten 173 at the same ground against the same opponents in 2001, and Jack Brown's 140 in 1895. This is the fourth-highest by a No. 5 batsman in a fourth-innings win, and in three of those four innings, the team eventually won by one wicket.
74 - Runs scored by Stokes after the fall of the ninth England wicket, out of the 76 runs that were scored in the partnership. Jack Leach's contribution was one run. In terms of balls faced, Stokes played 45 to Leach's 17.
8 - Sixes struck by Stokes, which is the third-highest ever by a batsman in the fourth innings of a Test. Only Nathan Astle (11) and Tim Southee (9) have hit more, but both were in defeats. In a win, the next best is six.
