Thrill of the chase England positivity more measured as they cut down on Bazball big talk

Sports writers love a Churchillian speech that precedes a mind-bending feat. Take three years ago, when word got back that Brendon McCullum had told his England players to "run towards the danger" at Trent Bridge before Jonny Bairstow vaporised a target of 299 against New Zealand. It was like catnip for the press.

- Ali Martin

This time, after reeling in 371 at Headingley on Tuesday at a breezy 4.5 runs per over and with 14 overs to spare? Apparently very little was said in the dressing room beforehand beyond "bat the day, win the game" or Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett deciding between them to ignore the target and just "play like it was day one".

Not nearly so sexy, admittedly, but perhaps in its own way just as instructive. It may just be that after three years of McCullum and Ben Stokes unstitching some old-world English thinking about chasing pressure, historical precedence, securing the draw before turning thoughts to the win - we are witnessing the upshot: a team with such clarity in these situations that sabres no longer need to be rattled.

"My mindset was a bit different to what it has been over the last couple of years," said Duckett, his match-winning 149 from 170 balls having begun with caution against the obvious threat of Jasprit Bumrah. "It was potentially a bit of maturity from me kicking in, trying to see [Bumrah] off, not necessarily playing any big shots, and knowing it would get easier.

"And massive credit to Zak [who made 65 in an opening stand of 188]. The way he played, I took my hat off to him. He is definitely thinking about batting differently now. He's still smacking the bad ball away, but his thought process is so calm."