After scoring 94 from 66 balls in the first ODI, Bairstow upped his game with a brilliant century in the second ODI scoring 124 of just 112 balls and smashing seven sixes in the process to take England home and set up a series decider on Sunday.
England made a complete mockery of the Indian bowlers in the second ODI smashing them all over the park and achieving the target of 337 in just 43.3 overs. Jason Roy (55), Jonny Bairstow (124) and Ben Stokes (99) played blistering knocks to ensure that England completed the run chase successfully.
England ended up hitting 20 sixes in their innings. While Bairstow hit seven of those sixes, star all-rounder Ben Stokes cleared the boundary 10 times before getting out and falling just one run short of his century.
To be honest, I think it’s just happening that way. There hasn’t been a conversation saying we must hit more sixes,
Bairstow said.
If you look at where the game is going around the world, whether that be in T20, or 50-over cricket the team that hits the most boundaries generally wins the game.
And if you’re hitting boundaries that are going for six rather than four, then the numbers are going to stack up slightly more.
While the aggressive approach paid off this time, the team is aware that this might not be the case every time. England ended up losing the first ODI by 66 runs despite having a similar start in that game.
Bairstow admitted that the execution might not work out every time, but the players should always back themselves to do their best.
