Jonny Bairstow creams 14 fours and seven sixes in astonishing 77-ball hundred as England race to target of 299 against New Zealand to win second Test by five wickets and take unassailable 2-0 series lead; England's first series victory since winning in Sri Lanka in 2021
Wednesday 15 June 2022 06:10, UK
Jonny Bairstow smashed England's second-fastest Test hundred, from just 77 balls, as his side romped to a target of 299 against New Zealand and clinched a first series victory in 17 months in devastating style.
Bairstow (136 off 92 balls) looked on course to trump Gilbert Jessop's record 76-ball ton, set against Australia at The Oval way back in 1902, during a staggering post-tea onslaught at a packed-out Trent Bridge.
The Yorkshireman and skipper Ben Stokes (75no off 70) crunched 133 from the first 68 balls in the final session on day five as New Zealand's short-ball ploy backfired spectacularly and boundaries came at will.
Bairstow was on 43 from 48 balls when he strolled out after tea, with his team requiring a further 160 runs from 38 overs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match contest, having needed just shy of 300 from a minimum of 72 overs when the chase began in Nottingham.
Bairstow promptly nailed New Zealand seamer Matt Henry for back-to-back fours to bring up a 51-ball fifty - and reached three figures just 26 deliveries later after creaming Henry, Trent Boult and Tim Southee all around the ground and into the stands during a blistering display of batting.
Bairstow was eventually dismissed by Boult with 27 runs required - departing to a standing ovation after cracking 14 fours and seven sixes - leaving Stokes and Ben Foakes (12no) at the crease as England cantered to a five-wicket win and the highest successful Test run chase seen in the stadium with 22 of the 72 overs to spare.
Stokes sealed victory by slamming Boult through the covers for four as a Test that began with New Zealand piling on 553 runs after losing the toss ended with England toasting a truly remarkable triumph and first series win since a 2-0 success in Sri Lanka in January 2021.
Bairstow and Stokes had joined forces at 93-4 in the 26th over once another promising innings from the growing-in-confidence Alex Lees (44 off 81 deliveries) had been ended by Southee.
Lees had pumped the first two balls of the chase, bowled by Southee, through the off-side for four to reaffirm that England only had designs on winning the game, not batting out for a draw.
That was in stark contrast to the Lord's Test against New Zealand a year ago when the hosts had opted against pursuing 273 from 75 overs and instead ground their way to a stalemate.
Stokes and new coach Brendon McCullum have entirely shifted that mindset, as was evidenced by the way England sped home on Tuesday evening, the fans who had taken advantage of the offer of free tickets for day five royally rewarded for doing so.
Things had looked dicey for England when a double strike after lunch - Ollie Pope snicking Henry behind for 18 and Joe Root caught and bowled by Boult for three - had left them tottering on 56-3 in the 16th over, Zak Crawley (0) having glanced a Boult cutter behind 10 balls into the chase.
But crunching hitting later in the day saw England follow up last week's five-wicket victory at Lord's - just their second in 18 games - with another memorable triumph and they will now be seeking a clean sweep by winning the third and final Test at Clean Slate Headingley from June 23.
In the morning, and before the carnage, New Zealand had added 60 runs to their overnight 224-7, during which time Daryl Mitchell (62no) passed fifty for the third consecutive Test innings, having hit 190 in his first knock at Trent Bridge and 108 during England's victory at Lord's.
There was also a notable milestone for Boult as he became the highest-scoring No 11 in Test history, overtaking Muttiah Muralitharan's previous record of 623 during a breezy 15-ball 17 which featured three eye-catching boundaries in one Stokes over.
Boult was the last man out, clothing James Anderson (2-20) to mid-off, after Stuart Broad (3-70) had bounced out Henry (18) and back-injury victim Kyle Jamieson (1) from around the wicket - Henry unable to resist taking on the hook after England moved the man from the deep.
Henry should have fallen to the second ball of the day, when he had just eight, but Root grassed low at slip after Jack Leach induced the edge with a delivery that gripped and straightened - Root took a blow on the finger as he attempted the catch and left the field temporarily for treatment.
Root was fine to bat, although lasted only four balls, unable to back up his first-innings 176. It mattered little, though, as Bairstow and Stokes flogged a New Zealand attack shorn of back-injury victim Jamieson to all parts.
The spectators, some of whom had probably never witnessed a day's live Test cricket before, were given a rousing showcase of the new, full-throttle England.
All told in the game, a record 226 fours and 24 sixes were struck by the sides combined, setting a record for the most boundaries in a Test.
Stokes added three of them in the final over, dumping Boult for six over long-on before going on to clip four through midwicket and then ending the game with a cut to the cover fence.
England match-winner, Jonny Bairstow: "Days like this are very exciting. If this is happening now, let's see what is going to happen in the next few weeks, the next few months because, wow, it is going to be a journey.
"The players in the dressing room are able to play the positive brand of cricket and that never-say-die attitude, that ever-evolving confidence we have got within each other, allows people to flourish.
"If we are able to go forward as we have done this series, keeping that going, keeping the momentum, the sky is the limit."
