After rescuing England’s proverbial bacon on the second day, Johnny Bearstow and Jamie Overton will resume their record partnership with Vata this morning.
After the hosts limped to 55 for 6 in 12 overtimes this afternoon, their hopes for a third win against New Zealand seemed dashed. Bairstow and Overton did an impressive emergency repair job, running 209 runs for just 37.1 overs to give England the highest seventh goal of all time.
Bairstow started the third day at 130, accumulating a total speed of just 126 balls. Overton starts at 89, which means that 11 more runs will solidify his status as the 21st player to make a century on his test debut.
Thanks to their efforts, England is at a relatively healthy 264 for six. Although Overton was not as fast as his partner on the second day, his shot was still extremely effective. New Zealand will seek to fire them earlier.
After winning the first two tests at Lord’s and Trent Bridge, respectively, England have already completed the series and, as such, have little to lose in Headingley. Brendan McCallum has given them a license to entertain, and at least Overton and Bearstow have already done so.
Nevertheless, a clean slap against New Zealand would be a worthy achievement and a great start to the Baseball era. England are still 65 runs behind, but if Bairstow and Overton can continue where they left off, they will quickly eat up that deficit. With a noisy home crowd behind them, this should be another exciting day of cricket.
Speaking at the end of the second day, Bearstow gave an idea of his way of thinking. “I guess that’s your personality,” he said.
“I’m just calmer in the fold, I’m not necessarily so tense. I went back to young Johnny, where I look at the ball and see the ball.
“Sometimes a lot of nonsense is said about many different things, sometimes they come into your mind and overwhelm it.
“I have to listen to the people who matter to me, and I’m doing that right now. The most important thing is that it’s me.”
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