The sky is the limit for England's Test team under the new leadership of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, says Jonny Bairstow.
England claimed an emphatic five-wicket victory over New Zealand at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, thanks in large part to Bairstow's supreme performance.
Bairstow struck 136 off just 92 deliveries as he turned in one of the all-time great batting displays in red-ball cricket for England.
Indeed, his 77-ball century fell agonisingly short of matching Gilbert Jessop's 76-ball hundred at The Oval in 1902, which still stands as England's fastest Test ton.
The Yorkshireman's 136 was the highest fourth-innings score of any England batter coming in at five or lower, as he combined with captain Stokes to propel the hosts to victory with a 179-run fifth-wicket partnership.
While Bairstow's stand was eventually ended by Trent Boult, who took 3-94 for a New Zealand bowling attack devoid of the injured Kyle Jamieson, Stokes (75 not out) was on hand to hammer a four through the covers and wrap up the highest successful Test chase at Trent Bridge.
England won just one of their previous 17 Tests before Stokes replaced Joe Root – who starred in the first innings in Nottingham – as captain and former New Zealand skipper McCullum was appointed as coach. They now hold an unassailable 2-0 series lead heading to Leeds for next week's final match.
With 1,675 runs scored over the second Test – the most ever seen at Trent Bridge – Bairstow explained England approached day five as a one-day game, and he believes the team have the perfect balance to return to the top in the longest format.
"It was just great fun to be out there. It's one of those things, when you get in that kind of mood you've just got to go with it. It was do or die," he told Sky Sports.
"If you strip everything back and there's just you and the bowler there... that's the bit where sometimes cricket's so much more complicated, and it's complicated by us as players.
"When you strip it all back, you're just watching the ball – that is the zone you have to get into. Sometimes it can be tricky.
"When there's been so many runs scored in the game, I don't think you look at it as a record run chase, you look at it as an opportunity to go and chase down a total. We saw it as a one-day game – that's how we looked at it.
"I think the positive approach, the brand of cricket we're looking to play, the players we have in that dressing room are able to play that brand of cricket. I tell you what, days like this are very exciting. If this is happening now, let's see what happens in the next few weeks and next few months because it's going to be a journey."
Asked where his ninth Test century ranked among his other tons for England in the five-day game, Bairstow – who revealed his evening session onslaught was fuelled by a "cheese and ham toastie and a cup of coffee" – replied: "It's number one. I think it's tricky not to be number one, isn't it?
"There's been a lot of chatter around England's Test cricket, some of which has been a bit harsh. We've battled through different things. I'm hugely proud of the way the guys have gone about it in those few years, it's enabled us to get close as a group.
"If we're able to go forward as we have done, keep that momentum, keep it going, the sky is the limit."
Manchester rivals suffer three o'clock woe
Manchester City and Manchester United both lost on Saturday, breaking a decade-old wait for the two rivals to fall to a defeat in a 3pm kick-off.
It is rare for both United and City to play in the traditional Saturday slot, but that was the case as Erik ten Hag's side hosted Crystal Palace and Pep Guardiola's Premier League champions headed to Wolves.
Yet neither team will be in a rush to remember this particular afternoon in a hurry, as they both lost in a 3pm Saturday kick-off for the first time since September 28, 2013.
United lost 1-0, with Joachim Andersen's goal making Roy Hodgson the first manager to go unbeaten in five successive Premier League trips to Old Trafford. City, meanwhile, went down 2-1 at Molineux, with Hwang Hee-chan getting the winner for Wolves.
No Rodri, big problems
City lost to Newcastle United in the EFL Cup on Wednesday and, without star midfielder Rodri – who was serving the second of a three-match suspension for the red card he received against Nottingham Forest – they found themselves on the end of a defeat again at Wolves.
Since Rodri made his Premier League debut in August 2019, City have lost five of 15 matches without the Spaniard in the competition (W9 D1); by contrast, they have lost just five of their last 67 league games when Rodri has featured (W53 D9).
Middlesex relegated from Division One as Kent survive on dramatic final day
Kent maintained their Division One status in the LV= Insurance County Championship after a dramatic final day of the season which saw Middlesex relegated instead.
Kent had to settle for a draw from their game with Lancashire at Canterbury and then faced an agonising 80-minute wait for news from Trent Bridge, where a Middlesex win over Nottinghamshire would have consigned Jack Leaning’s side to Division Two.
There had looked to be only one outcome as Nottinghamshire, having been set a target of 207 in a generous 58 overs by Middlesex skipper Toby Roland-Jones, progressed to 64 without loss and then 106 for one.
But on a dry, turning pitch on a sunny afternoon, spinners Jayant Yadav, Josh De Caires and Sam Robson – who finished with a career-best four for 46 with his leg spin – reduced the home side to 157 for seven and suddenly a great escape looked on.
However, Matt Montgomery (34 not out) held the tail together to drag Nottinghamshire across the line at eight down, with 16 balls to spare, and left Kent celebrating survival despite being frustrated by dogged Lancashire resistance.
Third-placed Hampshire became just the second team to beat Surrey across their back-to-back title-winning campaigns.
Only Lancashire had beaten Surrey in 2022 and 2023 in red-ball cricket, winning once in either campaign.
But Liam Dawson took his season tally to 49 wickets by claiming two of the four scalps needed to secure victory at the Ageas Bowl, with Surrey only scoring 20 of the 73 required to lose by 52 runs before 11am.
Despite the defeat, Surrey were presented with the Division One trophy by England and Wales Cricket Board chair Richard Thompson.
Warwickshire and Somerset’s rain-hit clash ended in an expected draw.
The Division One contest was officially abandoned just after lunch on the final day when, with the sun shining, the umpires ruled that areas of the field remained unsafe.
Somerset had been 90 for two in the second innings, a lead of 32. The result saw Warwickshire end the campaign in fourth with Somerset seventh.
In Division Two, Shan Masood’s brilliant 123 helped Yorkshire chase down a final-day target of 360 to beat promoted Worcestershire at Headingley and avoid finishing bottom for only the second time in their history.
Yorkshire’s fourth-highest successful run chase was achieved with relative comfort in the end, with six wickets in hand and three overs of the allotted 70 remaining.
With the game meandering ahead of day four, both sides opted to contrive a finish, with Yorkshire risking the draw which would lift them off the bottom of Division Two.
As it was, they were able to achieve that by going for broke as captain Masood hit 15 fours in 131 balls.
Sussex took just 45 minutes to complete a 339-run victory that condemned Gloucestershire to a winless season and bottom spot.
The hosts took only 9.5 overs to achieve a third victory of the campaign after Gloucestershire resumed on 113 for five, needing another 400 runs.
Durham sealed an emphatic victory over Leicestershire by an innings and 141 runs to end their title-winning campaign on a high.
The home side required 10 wickets to secure their seventh victory of the campaign at Seat Unique Riverside and took only 42.5 overs to tear through the Leicestershire batting line-up.
The Durham bowlers shared the wickets around as Vishwa Fernando and Matt Parkinson claimed three apiece, while Matthew Potts, Ben Raine and Jonathan Bushnell also struck.
The hosts took 24 points from the contest, ending the term with a mammoth total of 233.
Leus Du Plooy’s last game for Derbyshire ended in a draw despite another Luis Reece century as their side came up four wickets short after setting Glamorgan a target of 384 to win on the final day in 70 overs.
Derbyshire had eight fielders around the bat in the chase for wickets but eventually called time one over short at 5.37pm as the game petered out into a draw with Glamorgan on 135 for six. Derbyshire finished sixth in the table and Glamorgan fifth.
Pooran joins Durban Super Giants for SA T20
West Indies T20 sensation, Nicholas Pooran, was unveiled as the Durban's Super Giants wildcard pick ahead of the SA20 auction that took place in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
This will be Pooran's first time playing the tournament and he will represent the same owners he plays for in the Indian Premier League.
The 27-year old delivered a recent reminder of his capabilities with a 51-ball hundred at the Caribbean Premier League where his team, Trinbago Knight Riders, was part of the final.
He was the highest scorer in the inaugural Major League Cricket tournament in the USA earlier this year, a performance that helped the team he was captaining, MI New York, win the title.
In all, Pooran has 5861 T20 runs at a strike rate of 144 across a career that spans 292 matches and 10 years.
Fellow West Indians Kieron Pollard and Romario Shepherd were also snapped up at the auction. Pollard will play the first three matches for MI Cape Town as cover for Rashid Khan while Shepherd, who was instrumental in helping the Guyana Amazon Warriors claim their maiden CPL title, will suit up for the Joburg Super Kings.
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