Jonny Bairstow put on a show with the bat in England’s historic five-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second Test at Trent Bridge on Tuesday (June 14).
Chasing 299 to win on the final day, the hosts were struggling at 93/4 and it was then Bairstow produced one of the greatest counter-attacking knocks in Test history.
Batting at No. 5, 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 being dismissed by Trent Boult.
WATCH - "Had a cheese-and-ham-toastie and cup of coffee," Jonny Bairstow after his explosive 136
After the game, Jonny Bairstow credited the influence of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on his breathtaking Test hundred in Nottingham.
During the recently held IPL 2022 season, Bairstow played for Punjab Kings, scoring 253 runs from 11 innings at a strike rate of 144.57.
“There were a lot of people that were saying I should not be at the IPL and I should be playing county cricket,” Bairstow quoted as saying by mirror.co.uk. “That's part and parcel of the game. Decisions are decisions and if I could say what I wanted to then…
“But there's also elements to it where you are playing against the best in the world at the IPL. So being able to have those gears, to be able to go and switch them up, switch them down is important. Yes, people say it would be fantastic if you had four games of red-ball cricket under your belt. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen in the current scheduling of everything around the world,” he added.
“We're very fortunate to be able to play in some of the best competitions against the best players in the world. So when it comes to pressure situations, the more and more you're able to put yourself under those pressure situations, the better. Because it's those situations that you've gone through in the past whether that be in the IPL, one-day cricket, or red-ball cricket previously that you're able to call upon for evenings like that,” he explained.
Bairstow is also enjoying playing under England's new regime, which includes Test captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.
“Everyone has got complete backing from Brendon and Ben about how they want to go about their games,” he remarked. “I’ve played under lots of coaches and captains and they’ve all brought different good bits out of me, and I’m extremely excited about the vision Brendon and Ben have for the team.
“It has only been a couple of weeks so the relationship is evolving and everyone is learning their part, but there hasn’t been a negative thought in the dressing room. It is the start of an exciting journey,” Bairstow concluded.
