TOP SPIN AT THE TEST: Ben Stokes heroics help England to their highest-ever successful fourth-innings chase
- Ben Stokes hit an unbeaten 135 as England successfully chased down 359
- Stokes hit eight sixes, the most in any Ashes innings, beating Kevin Pietersen’s 7
- His 10th wicket partnership with Jack Leach’s was worth 76 runs
Ben Stokes’s heroics helped England to their highest-ever successful fourth-innings chase, beating a record that has stood for more than 90 years. Back in January 1929, England made 332 for seven to beat Australia at Melbourne, with Herbert Sutcliffe grinding out 135.
England’s first-innings 67 was the lowest total to form part of a Test win for 131 years. Only three other lower scores have resulted in victory: England’s 45 at Sydney in 1886-87, Australia’s 60 at Lord’s in 1888, and Australia’s 63 at The Oval in 1882, the Test which spawned the Ashes.
There has been only one higher 10th-wicket stand to win a Test – the 78 added by Sri Lanka’s Kusal Perera and Vishwa Fernando against South Africa at Durban in February. Stokes and Leach put on 76, moving the 57 added by Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mushtaq Ahmed to beat Australia at Karachi in 1994-95 into third place.
Ben Stokes celebrates scoring the winning runs at the end of an incredible innings
Stokes hit 135 not out as England successfully chased down Australia’s target of 359
Stokes hit eight sixes, the most in any Ashes innings, beating Kevin Pietersen’s seven
There has been only one higher successful 10th wicket stand in Test history
Stokes’s unbeaten 135 was the third-highest score by an England batsman in a successful fourth-innings chase. The highest also took place at Headingley: in 2001, Mark Butcher thrashed an undefeated 173. Jack Brown made 140 at the MCG in March 1895.
Stokes hit eight sixes, the most in any Ashes innings, beating Kevin Pietersen’s seven at The Oval in 2005.