Former England captain Nasser Hussain showered praises on Jonny Bairstow and Jamie Overton for digging the team out of a massive hole on the second day of the third Test against New Zealand. The duo launched an outstanding counter-attack after an early collapse from the English top order. Hussain feels the pair set an example for the top order.
Bairstow and Overton added an unbroken stand of 209 runs from just 37.1 overs to rescue England from 55/6 to 264/6 at the end of day two at Headingley. The duo scored at a fantastic rate of 5.62 rpo, cutting down the deficit to New Zealand’s first innings total to only 64 runs.
The last Test’s hero Bairstow and Overton, who was on his debut, defended the good balls and smashed anything loose. In his column for Daily Mail, Hussain praised the duo showed a perfect template for counter-attack.
“That was a quite superb counter-attack from Jonny Bairstow and Jamie Overton. It was an excellent example of the kind of thing Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes want from this Test team. It’s not all about blazing away when the odds are against you. It’s about working out when is the right time to attack.
“Bairstow and Overton, who showed real nous on his Test debut, timed it to perfection. And it may be the kind of performance the top order can learn from, because you have to get that balance right,”
Hussain wrote.
Bairstow scored his second consecutive century off just 95 balls and remained unbeaten on 130. Jamie Overton showed his brute power as well and was 11 runs short of a century at the end of the day.
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England’s top order was dismantled by a sensational spell from Trent Boult, who clean bowled Alex Lees, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope. Tim Southee joined in the act by removing in-form Joe Root while Neil Wagner – playing his first game of the series – dismissed Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes.
Earlier, the Black Caps began their day on 225/5 with a familiar pair of Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell providing a fight. While Blundell was dismissed for 55, Mitchell went on to register his third century of the series. England did well to wrap the last three wickets for four runs to restrict the visitors to 329.
