Cricket

'Nothing quite like test cricket'- Twitter stunned as England pull off a miraculous chase vs New Zealand

England beat New Zealand by five wickets in the second Test match of the three-match series. Here is how Twitter reacted.

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Jonny Bairstow-Ben Stokes

Jonny Bairstow-Ben Stokes (Image source- Twitter)

England beat New Zealand by five wickets in the second Test match. With this spectacular victory, the hosts have now won the three-match Test series. The game witnessed some excellent batting performances, but eventually, some brutal hitting by Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes ensured a win for the Brits. Thus, with this win, England took a 2-0 lead in the series.

The Black Caps were asked to bat first at Trent Bridge, and they posted a massive score of 553 runs in the first innings. While the batters struggled early on, the conditions improved for batting as the game progressed. Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell were the saviours for the batting side, scoring 190 and 106 runs, respectively. In reply, England also displayed an excellent batting display.

After losing an early wicket, the batting unit successfully built strong partnerships. Ollie Pope and Joe Root were the stars of the second innings as they played with the right intent in the innings. Both scored a century, but Root's 173 was the standout as he played an absolute gem of a knock. However, Trent Boult and Michael Bracewell came back strongly to pick some quick wickets. New Zealand then got a 14-run lead going into the third innings. Boult took a five-wicket haul, while Bracewell took three wickets.

In reply, the visitors also displayed an excellent batting display. With some good performances by Devon Conway (52), Will Young (56), and Daryl Mitchell (62), the Kiwis were able to get to a good total of 284 runs in the innings. This meant that England had to chase 299 to win the game. However, they lost wickets regularly, which evenly poised the game for the two sides. England needed 160 runs in the final session with six wickets remaining.

Jonny Bairstow then took the responsibility as he took on the bowlers. Ben Stokes, on the other hand, gave full support despite struggling with a niggle. Bairstow continued to attack and reached his century in just 77 balls. After scoring 136, he was eventually dismissed by Boult with just 27 runs required to win.

After Bairstow had done his part, Stokes completed his half-century and stayed not out in an epic encounter. He hit a six and two fours in the 50th over to complete the game. The team scored 160 runs in just 16 overs in the final session.

Here is how Twitter reacted

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New Zealand tour of England