Twitter Reactions: Jonny Bairstow's under pressure ton revives England on day two

After dominating the Kiwis in the first two Tests of the series, England walked in with huge confidence in the closing game at Headingley. New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat first wherein they closed day one after scoring 225 runs after losing five wickets with old heroes Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell on the crease.

While Blundell got bundled on 55 runs on day two, Mitchell seized the day with his third straight ton of the series while scoring 109 runs off 228 balls. It was Mitchell yet again who drove the car for the Kiwis as they posted 329 runs on the board while losing all wickets. Jack Leach was the pick of the bowlers from the hosts’ end as he bagged a five-wicket haul in 38.3 overs.

Stuart Broad picked three wickets. When it came to England to kick off their chase game, it were all dark clouds over the hosts as they started losing wickets in no time. New Zealand star pacer Trent Boult ran through England’s top order to put them in a spot of bother.

Jonny Bairstow revives struggling England from the rough patch

Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, and Ollie Pope scored 4, 6, and 5 runs respectively as Boult ended their plans. The real trouble fell for the hosts when Joe Root was cleaned up by Tim Southee for just five runs. Ben Stokes also fell cheaply for 18 runs but it was Jonny Bairstow yet again who revived the innings for the English side while they were tumbling on 55 for 6.

While Bairstow smashed another century and ended his day on 130 runs off 126 deliveries, he was well supported from the other end by new man Jamie Overton, who went to score 89 runs. And, what started as a tough day for England, they now only trail by 65 runs courtesy of Bairstow and Overton’s blitz.  While Boult has three wickets so far, Wagner has two and Southee has one to his credit.

Here is how Twitter reacted to day 2 of ENG vs NZ

YES, JONNY! 💯 🦁

This one means so much ❤️

Here at Headingley, he is home.

Scorecard/clips: https://t.co/AIVHwaAtOv

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #ENGvNZ 🇳🇿 @jbairstow21 pic.twitter.com/Oy1HwpudqY

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 24, 2022

What a test happening at headingley England have recovered from 55/6 to 264/6 at the stumps on day 2
Brilliant batting from Johnny bairstow 130 and
Craig Overton 89 not out #ENGvNZ #Cricket

— Mustafa Saleem (@Callmemustafa_) June 24, 2022

England batters with successive Test hundreds off fewer than 100 balls:

Lord Ian Botham, 1981
Jonny Bairstow, 2022 #ENGvNZ

— Karamdeep 🎥📱 (@oyeekd) June 24, 2022

At 55-6, England were staring down the barrel, but Jonny Bairstow (130*) & Overton (89*) had other ideas with their 209* stand

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 264-6 at stumps#ENGvNZ

— ThePoppingCrease (@PoppingCreaseSA) June 24, 2022

England have decided Test Cricket is too slow so they’ve turned it into a one day format. 264 runs in 49 overs = 5.38 run rate. Bonkers. #ENGvNZ

— Horatius Cocles 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@SternhammerWulf) June 24, 2022

Today's counterattack by Jonny & Overton was absolutely RIDICULOUS!!! 👊👊👊#ENGvNZ #ENGvsNZ #NzvsEng #NZvENG #JonnyBairstow

— THE ROCKSTAR (@VivJonty) June 24, 2022

Take a bow Johny Bairstow .. What a inning under huge pressure .. Fabulous hundred 💯👏#ENGvNZ

— Imran khan (@imkhan5csn) June 24, 2022

The whole of Leeds arises for another stupendous Bairstow knock 💯 #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/pblu5Xr1CZ

— Jonny Bairstow’s Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy) June 24, 2022