Bairstow celebrates his ton
Highlights
- Bairstow has crossed 5000 test runs for England
- This is Jonny Bairstow's second ton of the series
- Jonny Bairstow and Jamie Overton stitched a partnership of 209 runs
It certainly seems that things have changed in the English team under the able leadership of Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum. The English team seems to be a different side altogether. With the team playing around Joe Root for quite some time now, it seems like they have got their mojo back and are finding heroes who rise to the situation on different occasions.
England is sitting comfortably as they have clinched the three-match test series by 2-0 against the Kiwis. The thumping manner in which they demolished the Kiwi bowlers in the second innings and chased down 299 against the likes of Trent Boult, Tim Southee, and Henry Nicholls was a sight to behold. This chase was England's statement to the other cricketing nations, that just like the white ball format, they will continue to play the aggressive brand of cricket even in the longest format of the game. The winning architect of Trent Bridge, Jonny Bairstow continued with his blistering form and smashed a century at Headingley where the third and the final Test match is being played.
The Kiwis had put up a decent 329 on board in the first innings and were expecting to secure some sort of lead to gain an advantage in their second innings. As per their expectations, they bowled magnificently and left England reeling at 55-6. Jonny Bairstow, on the other hand, was quite unbothered by the fall of wickets and had other ideas in his mind. Following up with his exploits of Trent Bridge, Bairstow scored 130* off 126 deliveries at a strike rate of 103.17.
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England XI for Leeds Test: Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes, Matty Potts, Jamie Overton, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach
