Riding on Jonny Bairstow’s scintillating century, England pulled off a historic five-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second Test at Trent Bridge on Tuesday (June 14).

Resuming their second innings at 224/7 on Day 5, the visitors added 60 more runs before getting bowled out and set a target of 299 for the home team.

In reply, England lost Zak Crawley (0), Ollie Pope (18) and Joe Root (3) cheaply. Opener Alex chipped in with a handy 44 before being dismissed.

The hosts were struggling at 93/4 and it was then Bairstow produced one of the greatest counter-attacking knocks in Test history. The right-hander took the Kiwi attack to the cleaners, notching up his fifty in 51 balls and his ton in just 77 deliveries, which is the second-fastest by an Englishman in Tests behind Gilbert Jessop's 76-ball hundred against Australia in 1902.

In a dazzling spree of clean-hitting, Bairstow smashed 14 fours and 7 sixes en route to his 92-ball 136 before edging behind to wicketkeeper Tom Blundell off Trent Boult.

When Bairstow got out, England needed only 28 runs to complete the victory. Ben Stokes, who played the role of second fiddle during his 179-run stand with Bairstow, stayed unbeaten on 70-ball 75 alongside Ben Foakes (12*) to take the hosts over the line.

With this sensational victory, England also took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match Test series against New Zealand.

For his jaw-dropping knock, Jonny Bairstow received rich praises from the cricket fraternity on Twitter.

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