Wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow registered England’s second-fastest Test hundred to help them overhaul a 299-run target in just 50 overs in the second Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge. In his post-match interview, he revealed the team’s mindset during a fascinating passage of play.
In a Test match that saw Joe Root register yet another Test hundred, Daryl Mitchell aggregate 252 across two innings and a record 450 boundaries being hit, Bairstow walked off with the greatest honour. The Yorkshireman registered England’s second-fastest Test hundred ever, off mere 77 balls, and finished 136 off 92 to seal his side’s emphatic five-wicket win.
Bairstow and skipper Ben Stokes came with a slam-bang approach in the final session of play, with England still 160 away and 59 off those were knocked off within the first four overs. The carnage didn’t stop until the England captain would hit the winning boundary to finish unbeaten on 75 off 70.
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After the game at Trent Bridge, Bairstow talked through what was perhaps his finest hour in Test cricket.
“When there’s been so many runs scored in the game, you don’t look at it as a record run-chase, you look at it as an opportunity to chase down a total. We saw it as a one-day game.”
“It was great fun. When you get in that mood, you’ve got to just go with it. The plan that [New Zealand] set out with after tea was do or die, so you’ve got to do,”
he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Bairstow also revealed a fascinating piece of advice from Stokes, which, he believed, proved “the catalyst” for a sizzling display.
The third Test will be played at Headingley from June 23.
