For the fourth time in four matches in the ongoing 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, the result will be decided on Day 5 as England and India will battle at Old Trafford in Manchester in a decisive day for the series, with all eyes on the home team skipper Ben Stokes, whose all-round brilliance has put the Englishmen on top.

Stokes took a five-wicket haul before scoring a century, marking only the fifth instance in history of a captain achieving this feat. However, Stokes did not bowl a single ball in the second innings on Day 4 as a 174-run unbeaten partnership between KL Rahul and Shubman Gill has given India a slender hope of settling for a miracle draw.

India could get a major boost as there is major doubt over Stokes' bowling on Day 5. England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick did not confirm that the English captain will bowl but expressed hope he will be able to come to the team's rescue.

“We are waiting to see, he is obviously stiff and sore, he has had a big workload in the last few weeks and obviously again in this game and had a bit of cramp while he was batting mainly yesterday. I think we are still hopeful that he will be better tomorrow once we come back out and be a bit loose and ready to go again but we will assess it over night and see what happens. It's always important to make sure, especially after getting five wickets in the first innings. Let's keep our fingers crossed, he'll get a massage tonight and good rest and hopefully come out strong tomorrow,” said Trescothick to BBC Sports.

Stokes was spotted hobbling and limping on the field during India's innings. Earlier, he had retired hurt on Day 3 before coming back to complete his innings.

The 34-year-old is the highest wicket-taker in the series with 16 wickets.