Jonny Bairstow is enjoying the form of his life as he scores twin centuries to help England beat India by 7 wickets in the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston. Bairstow scored a counter-century in the second innings as England chased down a record target. He hit 15 fours in his 114-run knock and hit it over the ropes once.
It was Bairstow’s second century of the match as he scored 106 off 140 balls in England’s first innings. Under the new management of Brendon McCullum as head coach, England have recently played a fearless brand of cricket in the red-ball format and Bairstow has been the player who has most flourished with the play of ‘bazzball’ .
IND vs ENG 5th Test Day 5 Highlights
The 32-year-old said that he faced tough times over the years but everything is back on track as he is enjoying the aggressive England cricket.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun at the moment. The last month has been great for the boys and the smile on their faces when everyone does well is a big part of it. I’m taking it back to basics. The past few years have been tough for me.” But the past few months have been great, Bairstow said in a post-match presentation after being named player of the match.
Bairstow admitted that England cannot win every match with the current approach but they want to keep it going.
“The fifth day was over in 90 minutes. I have a joy factor right now. I am not afraid to fail and only want to put pressure on the opposition. With the approach we have, we are going to lose the game, but it is a positively fun brand of cricket,” he said.
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Talking about England’s record-breaking 378-run chase, Bairstow said Indian bowlers try to scare them but England’s batsmen soaked up the pressure well and crossed the line.
“The chase was all under control. They have some world class bowlers and you just have to absorb the pressure. They try to intimidate, they have some great players and it was about trying to put pressure on them. There will be phases when they are going to play really well. There was a time when it even started to reverse,” Bairstow said.
He further talked about his unbeaten 269-run stand with Root and said that it was special for him to bat with the former captain.
“And this morning was a different morning. Root and I are just two boys from Yorkshire. We have grown up playing together and have spent a lot of time together from the days of Yorkshire Academy to the Test team now. Special to play with him,” he concluded.
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