England's win one of the hosts' best-ever run chases in history of Test cricket: ICC
It's extremely rare that a team 378 runs in deficit comes back to win a Test, but England played patiently on Day 4 and 5 and rode on superb unflinching performances from their most consistent batters -- Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow -- to carve out a win against one of the most feared Test sides in the world. On Wednesday, the ICC listed the most successful Test run-chases ever by England before the historic Edgbatson victory. 1. Target 305: New Zealand v England, Christchurch, 1997:England relied heavily on skipper Mike Atherton in their first innings as he carried his bat for 94 runs off 346 balls in a total of 228. New Zealand built on their 118-run first-innings lead by adding 186 in their second, which seemed likely to be enough until Atherton built on his sublime form. The opener had enough support this time to reach a century (118) and guide England to 226 before departing as the fourth wicket and sparking a mini-collapse when Nasser Hussain (33) and Graham Thorpe (2) were also dismissed. John Crawley (40 not out) and Dominic Cork (39 not out) then stepped in to put on the remaining runs while Atherton was adjudged 'Player of the Match'.
