Sunday 01 / December / 2024
Leeds : Batter Jonny Bairstow (130*) and debutant all-rounder Jamie Overton (89*) led the fightback for England after a terrible start, taking their side to 264/6 at the end of Day 2 of the final Test against New Zealand at Headingley in Leeds on Friday.
With this, England currently trails by 65 runs in the Test match. After bundling out New Zealand for 329, England batsman had absolutely no idea what was about to hit them. They were left defenceless as pacer Trent Boult destroyed its top order, dismissing Alex Lees (4), Zak Crawley (6) and Ollie Pope (5) within the first seven overs. It reduced England to 17/3.
Star batter Joe Root (5) could not do much either. Bairstow and captain Ben Stokes tried to rebuild the innings for England, but Stokes fell for 18 to pacer Neil Wagner, followed by wicketkeeper Ben Foakes for a duck three balls later. England had sunk to 55/6.
After that, Bairstow and Wagner took control of England's innings. Bairstow continued his good show from the second Test, getting his tenth Test ton in such scary circumstances. He also completed his 5,000 Test runs.
Overton was also impressive with the bat in his debut outing, smashing a half-century, helping England end their Day two in a better condition, though still behind the Kiwis in the match.
Earlier batting first, NZ were bundled out for 329. Mitchell (109) and Blundell (55) played top knocks that powered Kiwis to such a solid score.
Jack Leach was the star for England with the ball, taking 5/100 with his spin bowling. Stuart Broad also took 3/62.
