England captain Joe Root believes Durham ace Ben Stokes' Headingley heroics can reshape the rest of the Ashes

The Durham ace’s astonishing 135 not out single-handedly altered the course of the series, powering England past a target of 359 - their best ever chase in Test cricket - to level things up at 1-1.

In doing so he struck eight mighty sixes, 11 fours and coaxed a scarcely believable last-wicket stand worth 76 out of Jack Leach, who contributed a solitary run but kept out 17 deliveries in an hour-long supporting role.

Stokes' knock instantly earned its place as one of the greatest innings in Test history, sitting proudly amongst the grandest displays in the 142 years of Ashes cricket, and Root thinks it will drive England's bid to reclaim the urn.

The sides resume battle at Old Trafford on September 4 before the final match at the Oval and events of the past 24 hours are likely to loom large.

"I'm going to struggle to put into words exactly what happened and I think I will do for a long time," said Root as tried to explain away the inexplicable.

"It took a heroic effort from Ben to get us across the line and that gives us a huge amount of belief and confidence. It feels like momentum can be quite a big thing in series like this one, five-match series, so hopefully we can ride that into Old Trafford.

"To find ourselves in the positions we did and come out winning the game, not just being nine down with 73 to go but also being 67 all out in the first innings, that will hold a lot of weight to carry into the next two games.

"We always feel we should never give up, our World Cup win was a great example of that, and coming into this series it was so important to have faith and belief in each other. To win this one is special."