Jonny Bairstow scored an outstanding century against India on Sunday, Day 3 of the ongoing 5th Test against India at Edgbaston. It was a brilliant counter-attack of 119 balls 100 against Indian former captain Virat Kohli. Kohli and Bairstow were involved in a heated argument because Kohli seemed unhappy with Bairstow’s words. Although Bairstow tried to calm things down, Kohli asked Bairstow to stop talking and focus on playing. The field umpires were also involved in the issue to calm things down. Jonny, infuriated by Kohli’s behavior scored a century against India.
Bairstow scored 16 out of 65 balls before and his next 84 runs were scored off just 54 balls. The 32-year-old, accelerated by Kohli, scored his best to raise the score of his team. England actually resumed its score on 84/5 while they want to score the most to make a draw. But it was only Bairstow who played against India’s impressive pace attack.
Bairstow scored a total of 106 runs out of 140 balls with 14 fours and 2 sixes. He scored his 14th four when Shardul Thakur’s attempt on the cover rope was misplayed. It was Bairstow’s 3rd hundred in the successive Tests and the century gave hope to England in the series. His century was actually a milestone for England to complete 284 runs in reply to India’s 416 runs. His previous centuries were against New Zealand. He scored a match-winning 136 runs in the second Test and 162 in the third Test in the recently concluded Test with New Zealand.
Bairstow and Ben Stock build a superb partnership in the beginning by scoring a 50-run partnership. Bairstow fostered his 24th half-century in 84 balls and make Indian bowlers under pressure. But Shardul Thakur dismissed stokes in the 38th over and he left the team at a total of 149/6. Then Billings joined with Bairstow to build a 50-run partnership in just 48 balls. They took England’s score at 200/6.
However, Bairstow was struck by Shami’s 1st ball of his second delivery when an edged drive sailed for Virat Kohli itself at first slip. Kohli, with the allegation of the former verbal altercation with Bairstow, blew a kiss to celebrate the wicket. Even though Bairstow stated that it was nothing but just a battle between two competitive players, Kohli received contrasting views from fans and other cricket players across the world regarding the issue. While some credited Kohli, many called it initiating a beat as Bairstow scored a century after this. Twitter is loaded with slamming Kohli’s aggressive attitude on the field without contributing much to the team.
When it comes to the end of Day 3, India is leading the Test by 257 runs. In the first innings, Captain Jasprit Bumrah took the team to a total of 416 runs. The second innings is ongoing with England yet to bat. Rishabh Pant (146) and Ravindra Jadeja (104) were the two leading batsmen for India.
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