Jonny Bairstow’s performance is akin to playing Brian Lara’s cricket in cheat mode: Alastair Cook. Bairstow scored 136 runs off 92 deliveries to help England win the second Test against New Zealand.
Jonny Bairstow stole the show on the final day of the second Test between England and New Zealand. Scoring 136 runs off 92 deliveries to help his team win the series. As a result, the 32-year-old has received high praise from former England captain Sir Alastair Cook. Who compared Bairstow’s knock to the legendary Brain Lara’s performance on ‘cheat day.’
Bairstow came in to bat at a critical time for the hosts. Who had lost their top-order batters after Zak Crawley dismiss for a duck and the first-innings centurions. Ollie Pope and Joe Root, both fell early. Bairstow, on the other hand, changed the game with his blistering knock, scoring the second-fastest century by any English batter in just 77 balls.
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England won the 2nd Test thanks to Jonny Bairstow’s century and Ben Stokes’ unbeaten half-century.
Bairstow needed just one more delivery to break the record held by former English batter Gilbert Jessop, who scored a century in just 76 balls, the fastest (Tests) in English cricket history. England had to chase 299 runs on the final day after dismissing the New Zealand batters at the start of the day’s play. Bairstow started slowly, reaching his half-century in 51 deliveries, but he later unleashed the beat within himself and scored a century in the next 26 balls.
Bairstow join on the field by skipper Ben Stokes as the two wreaked havoc. The pair added a whopping 179 runs for the fifth-wicket partnership, cutting the chase short and allowing their team to build on their first-Test victory. While Bairstow was eventually run out by Trent Boult, Stokes remain unbeaten throughout the innings and amass a 70-ball 75* to get his team over the line, giving them a 2-0 series lead.
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