England are in control of the game after day four of the third Test between them and Pakistan at Edgbaston. England’s day started poorly but a counter attack by the lower middle-order meant they ended the day with a lead of 311 with five wickets in hand.
Having begun the day with all ten wickets intact, England lost both openers early in the day. Joe Root and James Vince then saw them through till lunch, but after both were dismissed, England were still in a spot of bother.
After Gary Ballance was dismissed for a 70-ball 28 it only got worse. But Jonny Bairstow (82*) and Moeen Ali (60*) put on an unbeaten 132-run stand for the sixth wicket to help England end day four on 414/5.
Here are some interesting numbers from the day:
0 – No English keeper has scored more runs in a calendar year than Jonny Bairstow’s 855 so far this year. The previous English record was held by Matt Prior, who scored 777 runs in 2012.
1 – Bairstow is the leading run-scorer in Tests in 2016. His 855 runs at an average of 85.50 gives him top spot while two other Englishman, Joe Root (823) and Alastair Cook (770) round off the top three.
1 – For the first time against Pakistan, England’s top 7 all scored above 25 in an innings. It was their 9th time overall that this has happened.
4 – Moeen Ali became the fourth player batting at No.7 or lower to score two 50+ score in a Test after Alan Knott, Vic Marks and John Emburey.
5 – Five of England’s batsmen managed a fifty in this innings against Pakistan, which is their second-most against the visitors.
6 – Bairstow’s 855 runs places him at No.6 on the list of most runs in a calendar year for a wicketkeeper. Andy Flower with 1,045 runs in 2000 holds the record in this regard.
7 – Targets in excess of 300 have been set 11 times at Edgbaston. The defending team has won the game on seven of those occasions and only thrice has a team batted more than 80 overs in the fourth innings at the venue.
59.27 – Bairstow has the best average for any wicketkeeper (min 1000 runs) in Tests. His average of 59.27 is the best and in second place is AB de Villiers with 57.41.
89 – The previous record for most wickets after 15 Tests was held by George Lohmann, who had 89 wickets. Yasir Shah has 90 wickets.
274 – Pakistan’s highest successful chase in the fourth innings outside Asia is their 274 against New Zealand at Wellington in 2003.
281 – The highest successful run-chase at Edgbaston is by South Africa, who scored 281 to win in 2008. Should Pakistan score whatever target is set for them, it will be the highest at the venue.
345 – England’s previous-highest score against Pakistan in their second innings was 345 at Leeds in 2006. Their current score of 414/5 is the first time that they had score more than 400 in the third innings.
2002 – England’s top three have score a fifty in their second innings at home for the first time since 2002 against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.
2009 – Before this innnings, the last time England's top 5 scored 25 or more in their 2nd innings of a Test was in 2009 at Lord's.
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