It was the heroics of the wicket-keeper batsman, Jonny Bairstow, that helped England to achieve a remarkable chase on Tuesday. The world saw one of the most destructive innings by him against New Zealand in the second Test at Trent Bridge. The Kiwis gave the home team a target of 299 in 72 overs. But the English team chased down the target in 50 overs and won the match by five wickets.
Bairstow came out to bat at 56/3, but he just came out, all guns blazing. He smashed the Kiwi bowlers to all parts of the ground and hit the fastest fourth innings century in the history of Test cricket. The right-hander scored his century off just 77 balls and ended his innings at 136 off 92 balls, including 14 boundaries and seven maximums.
“You are playing against the best in the world at the IPL” – Jonny Bairstow
The wicket-keeper batsman also won the “Man of the Match” award as well. Notably, he played for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League prior to the test series. After the match, he spoke about his experience and how the IPL helped him. He said,
“There was a lot of people that were saying I should not be at the IPL and I should be playing county cricket. Decisions are decisions and if I could say what I wanted to then… never mind. But there are elements to it where you are playing against the best in the world at the IPL. We’re very fortunate to be able to play in some of the best competitions against the best players in the world.”
This was also the second-fastest Test century for England. Now they have won the second match and have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead. Both teams will now lock horns on June 23 for the third and final Test at Headingley, Leeds. Apart from Bairstow, skipper Ben Stokes also played a really good hand in the chase. He scored 75* off 70 balls, including 10 fours and four maximums.