This was England’s statement of intent for an epic year, OLIVER HOLT

The elements buffeted Headingley all day. Proud old oaks on Kirkstall Lane swayed in the wind, their branches dancing and lurching with every gust. In the skies above, planes on the approach to Leeds-Bradford airport pitched and yawed.

It was one of those days in England’s north where the threat of showers only ever felt a breath away. When the spectators on the Western Terrace lifted their faces to the breeze on the fifth day of the first Test, the terror of rain delays was always in the air.

But by the time early evening came, the clouds had lifted and there were patches of pale blue above. The fear that the elements might ruin England’s day had gone and the only thing in the air was magic.

Magic everywhere. Magic in a quite spellbinding innings from Ben Duckett, who swept and carved India to every corner of the ground and broke India’s spirit. Magic even when he fell for 149, the same score Ian Botham got here in perhaps England’s most famous victory of all, against Australia in 1981.

Some were lucky enough to have witnessed that day and this one, too. A colleague remembered coming here with his grandad 44 years ago as a 10-year-old and watching bewitched as a huge Botham six landed in the row in front of them at the Football Stand End.

And now there was the magic of witnessing another historic England victory. The thrill of seeing this team, wrought by coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, continue to redefine the parameters of modern Test cricket and challenge our ideas of what is within reach.

For England cricket fans, these are days of wonder. India had set England 371 to win and, a brief wobble aside when Harry Brook was dismissed first ball, Stokes’s men knocked off the runs without much ado.

It was the second highest run chase in this country’s Test history, just behind the 378 for three, also against India, amassed at Edgbaston three years ago in the infancy of the McCullum-Stokes regime. For slightly wider context, it was the 10th highest run chase in Test history.

So this was something special. It was achieved, do not forget, against the world’s best fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, and a spinner of the quality of Ravi Jadeja. 

‘Squeaky Bumrah Time’, one newspaper headline had warned yesterday morning but England did not flinch.

Nothing fazes this side. Nothing seems to dent its belief. With this five-wicket victory, which gave them a 1-0 lead in the series, they became the first team in first-class history to win a match in which they have conceded five centuries to the other team.

Not so long ago, England would have shied away from a chase like yesterday’s because they feared defeat more than they yearned for victory but those days have long gone. 

England have now won 12 of their 14 matches ‘chasing’ at home under Stokes and McCullum. Bazball does not do draws, unless it pours with rain all day in Manchester.

The match was an enthralling spectacle but it was also a hugely significant victory for Stokes, in particular. Before the match, some sought to lecture him about how it was time for Bazball to grow up and make compromises in the pursuit of victory.

Everyone was aware that this Test marks the start of a run of 10 matches against the two most powerful Test nations in the world, India and Australia.

All roads lead to our obsession with the Ashes this winter and this game was pitched as the beginning of the defining period for the style of cricket Stokes has pioneered.

This victory restated his authority and restated the ethos of this side. Everything Stokes stands for, every decision he made, was vindicated by the indomitability and the certainty and the confidence and the swagger and the poise that underscored this victory.

This was a statement of intent for the summer and the winter ahead. Stokes defied the received wisdom and put India into bat on Friday. And, as India racked up 471 runs, he was subjected to pockets of criticism.

‘Imagine thinking that way at the end of the first day when we have not even had a chance to bat on it,’ Stokes said pointedly after the match. ‘Test matches are played over five days.’

Victory proved him right. Victory reminded everyone that Stokes is still the brains of this operation as well as its most explosive player. He is the smartest man in the room when it comes to analysing and reading the game.

Those who called for evolution in the Bazball approach saw plenty of evidence of it, too. The characterisation of this team as a thrash-and-bash outfit has always been heavily simplistic and it seemed even more so here.

England played with intelligence and control in this fourth innings. They played aggressive cricket, too, but, aside from Brook’s aberration, this performance was about discipline and picking the moment to attack wisely. Patience mixed with dash. Caution mixed with daring.

Zak Crawley’s 111-ball half century, for instance, was the slowest of his career. It was about building pressure on India slowly but surely and never letting them get to a point where momentum was with them. England never looked desperate. They never looked wild.

It sounds laughable considering what they achieved, but there was even a sense England were playing within themselves. If they had been set 450 to win, they would have got it.

‘We are a simple-minded pair, me and Baz,’ Stokes said afterwards, as he spoke of ‘stripping it all back’ and trying to make sure that his players felt in the best possible frame of mind when they went out to the middle.

‘What a mint game,’ he added, and he was right. More days of wonder lie ahead, stretching through this summer and into the fire of the Ashes series that looms already in the distance.