Jonny Bairstow hopes to enjoy plenty more great partnerships with Harry Brook after the Yorkshire pair set England up for a convincing T20 victory over New Zealand on Friday.
Bairstow and Brook shared in a ferocious third-wicket stand of 131 from just 65 balls to lay the platform for an emphatic 95-run win in the second Vitality international at Old Trafford.
Bairstow batted throughout the innings for an unbeaten 86 from 60 balls while Brook, making a further point after his recent World Cup snub, smashed five sixes in a 36-ball 67.
“We tried to bide our time a little bit because it was quite tricky to start on,” said Bairstow.
“He hit a couple of magnificent shots over extra cover, and then that kind of kickstarts momentum.
“We had a bit of a chuckle the other day because we haven’t actually batted that much together, to be honest, and we were (saying), ‘come on’ we’re due a decent partnership at some point. I hope that’s the first of a few over the next few years.”
Their stand provided the backbone of England’s imposing 198 for four.
The Kiwis were never in the contest as they slumped to 103 all out in reply with impressive England debutant Gus Atkinson taking four for 20.
Bairstow said: “It was a great win. Any time that you bowl a team out in a T20, I think that’s some feat. Hats off to the bowlers for executing the skills as well as they did.
“But that wasn’t by any means the perfect game. We’ll go to Edgbaston looking to go better than that as well because naturally there’s some areas that we can improve on.”
England will head to Birmingham for the third encounter in the four-match series on Sunday leading 2-0.
Atkinson’s impressive display came after fellow seamer Brydon Carse shone on his debut in the series opener in Durham on Wednesday.
Bairstow is impressed with the attacking options available.
He said: “The guys that have come into series, Brydon and Gus, making the impact that they have, being so clear on how they want to go about it, I think is a testament to them.
“I think they’re going to play over a period of time for England, there’s no reason why not. Look at the skills that they’ve got.
“If you’ve got two guys that release the ball as high as they do and with as much pace as they have, I think it’s a good weapon.”
New Zealand seamer Adam Milne admitted the game ran away from the tourists during the Bairstow-Brook partnership.
He said: “I thought they were better really. Obviously they had a great partnership, very destructive for the small boundary there.
“They batted really well and it was tough to bowl to them when they’re in that sort of mode. Their line-up is full of quality players and explosive powerful players.”
'Job not done' for Springboks after All Blacks triumph, says Kolisi
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi warned his team the job is far from done despite them rallying for a thrilling victory over New Zealand in the Rugby Championship on Saturday.
The Springboks secured a 31-27 win over the All Blacks at Ellis Park, coming from behind with two late tries from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Grant Williams.
The victory hauled South Africa onto 14 points in the Championship standings as they bid to end New Zealand's four-year stranglehold on the title, but Kolisi says there is still work to be done.
Addressing the capacity crowd in his post-match interview, Kolisi said: "We play for a lot but you people are our number one motivation.
"We appreciate you every single day. Please don't stop. When times are tough, please keep supporting us. We cannot do it without you.
"We respect the All Blacks. No matter what people say about them, when they need to turn up, they turn up. We believed in ourselves, we didn't panic, and we did what we wanted.
"They were catching us on the exit. After the first try in the second half, we picked it up. I'm really proud of the boys but the job is not done."
All Blacks captain Scott Barrett, meanwhile, was proud of his team-mates' efforts but admitted they had just fallen short of putting together a complete performance.
"Well done to the Springboks, it showed the class team they are," he said. "We weren't quite good enough. We were good for 62 minutes and it's an 80-minute game.
"There were two key moments after kick-offs where we couldn't quite get out of our half and they punished us. It was a huge effort, we're certainly proud, but it was just not quite to be.
"We'll regroup pretty quickly. Some guys have played here for the first time. It's intense and we'll have to be better next week."
South Africa host New Zealand again in Cape Town next week, while Australia go to Argentina for their round-three matchup.
Record-breaking Root edges England closer to Sri Lanka victory
Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.
England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.
He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.
As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.
Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day
Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.
Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.
Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.
If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.
Last Hurrah: Dwayne Bravo to call time on CPL career after this year's edition
Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo says this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be his last hurrah as he announced his retirement from the tournament on Saturday.
Bravo, who represents the Trinbago Knight Riders, made the revelation on his Instagram account hours ahead of the franchise’s opening contest against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre, scheduled for 7:00pm.
“It's been a great journey, and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people," Bravo said in his post.
“TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team,” he added.
The 40-year-old’s post all but indicates the end of a decorated professional career, as he retired from international cricket in 2021 after the T20 World Cup and also announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) a year later after being part of four title-winning Chennai Super Kings campaigns.
Bravo, known for his flair and skillful batting and bowling, is currently the CPL’s highest wicket-taker with 128 scalps in 103 games at an average of 22.40 and economy rate of 8.69.
In fact, Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in all T20s, with 630 scalps in 578 matches. He has also scored 6,970 runs with the bat.
No doubt the electrifying Trinidad and Tobago stalwart will go down as one of T20's early legends, having played seven World Cups in the format, winning two titles, as well as over 15 franchise league titles. He is the first bowler to get to 500 T20 wickets.
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