Bairstow ton shatters WI’S Cup dream
MANCHESTER: Jonny Bairstow said he was delighted to have joined an “elusive club” after finally scoring his maiden one-day international hundred as England beat West Indies by seven wickets at Old Trafford.
Bairstow finished on exactly 100 not out, getting to three figures six years after playing a winning hand on debut against India in Cardiff.
That Tuesday’s match was just Bairstow’s 28th ODI is a reflection both of the difficulty he has had in establishing himself in the whiteball set-up and England’s uncertainty over how to best deploy the man now firmly established as their Test wicket-keeper in the 50-over game.
But having brought in Bairstow as an opener in place of the struggling Jason Roy for their previous ODI, an eight- wicket Champions Trophy defeat by Pakistan in Cardiff in June, a match where the Yorkshireman’s 43 was a rare highlight for the hosts, they retained him as a specialist batsman at the top of the order on Tuesday, as Jos Buttler again kept wicket.
The selectors’ decision was rewarded by an expertly-paced innings from Bairstow, who ensured England made light work of chasing down West Indies’ below-par total of 204 for nine in a match reduced to 42 overs per side by a wet outfield.
“I’m really pleased,” said Bairstow, who put on 125 for the second wicket with Yorkshire colleague and England Test captain Joe Root (54).
“It seems a long time ago since I made my debut at Cardiff,” added the 27-year-old son of the late f ormer Yorkshire and England wicket-keeper David Bairstow. Just over a month ago, Bairstow was dismissed for 99 during a Test against South Africa at Old Trafford. When he slipped going for a third run that saw him completed his 97-ball century on Tuesday there were, just briefly, fears he might once more be denied an international three-figure score at the Manchester ground.
England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan praised Bairstow’s determination after being on the fringes of the ODI side for so long.
“Being there at the end really epitomises how hungry he is and how much he wants to be part of the playing XI,” said Morgan. Brief scores: West Indies 204/9 in 42 overs (Jason Holder 41 not out; Ben Stokes 3/43)
30.5 overs (Jonny Bairstow 100 not out, Joe Root 54; Kesrick Williams 2/50) MANCHESTER: Jason Holder rued an inconsistent West Indies performance as defeat to England ended their hopes of automatic qualification for the 2019 cricket World Cup.
“We didn’t bowl as well as we thought we should,” said Jason Holder. “We were really inconsistent with our lengths and line and leaked boundaries. We got a bit stuck in the middle because we weren’t rotating the strike and that’s an area we really need to improve on.”
“We knew it was always going to be a tough ask,” said batting coach Toby Radford. “But we are positive as a group and we are trying to develop, so every game that comes now we will be positive.”