England vs New Zealand 2nd test: England record chase on last day of the match

The attitude of the England cricket team changed as soon as Ben Stokes became the captain. England beat New Zealand by 5 wickets in the second Test in Nottingham to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. England got a target of 299 runs to win in the last day’s game, which they achieved by losing five wickets.

Jonny Bairstow was the hero of England’s victory. He scored 136 runs in just 92 balls. It included 14 fours and 7 sixes. Ben Stokes scored 50 not out off 70 balls. When the England team came out to play the fourth innings, there were 72 overs left in the day’s play. But England achieved the target in 50 overs. Bairstow was adjudged man of the match.

A second-fastest century in England

Bairstow completed the century in 77 balls. This is the second-fastest century by England in Test cricket so far. Gilbert Jessup holds the record for scoring the fastest Test century for England. Jessup scored a century against Australia in 1902 in 76 balls.

Eighth chance to lose a Test by scoring 500 runs in the first innings. New Zealand had scored 553 runs in the first innings of the Test. Despite this, he had to face defeat. This is only the 8th time in the 145-year history of Test cricket that a team has lost despite having scored 500+ runs in the first innings of a match. The last time this happened was five years ago in 2017. Then the Bangladesh team lost against New Zealand in Wellington despite scoring 500+ runs in the first innings.

The chances of the match being drawn on the fourth day were high.
On the fourth day of the match, New Zealand’s team had scored 224 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their second innings. At that time the Kiwi team had a lead of 238 runs with three wickets remaining. In such a situation, the chances of the match being drawn seemed high. But, on the fifth day, England bundled out New Zealand’s second innings for 284 runs. Due to this, the hosts got a target of 299 runs, which the team achieved by losing five wickets in 50 overs. The third and final Test match of the series will be played in Leeds on 23 June.