Jonny Bairstow’s fourth Test century of the year helped England mount an unlikely fightback
(Picture: Getty Images)Headingley has hosted crazy Test matches for decades. This England team have been crazy Test cricket for weeks. We should have expected this England team playing at this cricket ground would provide a toxically crazy combination.
When Jamie Overton, at No8 on debut, ambled out to join Jonny Bairstow, midway through the afternoon session of day two, England were in genuine disarray.
They were 55 for six in response to 329 all out, thanks to a combination of beautiful swing bowling from Trent Boult and some, erm, audacious batting from their captain, Ben Stokes. They were still scoring at five runs an over, as they did for much of their absurd win at Trent Bridge.
So Bairstow and Overton decided to stick at it. They added an unbeaten 209 runs in 222 balls, England’s highest seventh-wicket stand in Test history. By stumps on a crazy day that saw 12 wickets fall and 368 runs scored, England trailed by just 65 with four wickets in hand.
They are in the game. Perhaps, playing like this, they are never out of the game. Their run-rate across the innings is 5.38, and they have scored more than 1,100 runs at a rate north of five. The approach is extraordinary; New Zealand took 90 overs to make 225 on day one. England have taken only 49 to get 264.
Bairstow has become accustomed to this sort of nonsense. He has now four hundreds this year, and in them he has walked to the crease at 36 for four, 48 for four, 56 for three chasing 299, and and now 17 for three that soon became 55 for six. He passed 5,000 Test runs in this innings, and has 10 centuries in his Test career, but this is the first time he has done so in successive innings.
Those two centuries came in fewer than 100 balls – 76 at Trent Bridge and 95 here. This was more aggressive early on, but has not yet reached the attacking intensity he found after tea on day five in Nottingham. His driving was pure, through cover and down the ground, and he peppered the boundary at third. Michael Bracewell’s spin was bullied, again.
This century one was celebrated as wildly as any of the 10 previous. It was his second on his home ground, his father’s home ground where he is as well-loved as any player. The look to the sky was a little longer, and perhaps a tear emerged in his eye. He ran around like a maniac, down towards the Pavilion and the corner of the Western Terrace, which had long since lost his collective mind. He cracked on, reaching 130 by stumps. There is power to add tomorrow.
More remarkable, perhaps, was Overton, who can bat but is new to all this. He arrived with a first-class average of almost 21, one hundred in his career, and a score of 93 this year. But this was beyond his wildest dreams, not least because of the pure class involved. This was the sweetest ball-striking imaginable, especially when launching a pair of sixes. He returns tomorrow with a century in sight.
The early part of the day, which was plenty busy enough, felt like ancient history. As New Zealand added 104 runs with their final five wickets, and Daryl Mitchell moved to his third hundred of a superb tour, England were wilting a bit, with catches dropped and plans poor. But some slogging from New Zealand’s lower order, allied to some excellent swirling catches from Stokes and Bairstow in the deep handed Jack Leach a first five-fer at home.
Before long, England seemed destined not only for defeat, but for a humbling follow-on.
Boult had bowled beautifully to castle England’s entire top three, with each more to blame than the last. Alex Lees got one that arced away from his defence, fifth ball, and left utterly baffled. Ollie Pope was just a little keen to drive one that snagged back through his gate and Zak Crawley failed to learn from his mistake. In the circumstances, that was a desperately disappointing dismissal
.At the other end, Joe Root failed, just nibbled out by some smart bowling from Tim Southee. Stokes came out, and attacked from the very first ball – come what may. He launched Southee for six, then produced a pair of beautiful fours off Boult. The introubdciton of Neil Wagner, for the first time this series, caused trouble, though. He was caught at mid-on, looking for the Rugby Ground. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Three balls later, Ben Foakes was lbw, and England were 55 for six. It could have been even better for New Zealand, who dropped a couple of catches (Lees then Bairstow), missed a great run out chance (Root), and failed to review an lbw that would have been out (Overton). As the runs flowed, they lived to regret that last mistake especially.
