England’s wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow piled on runs on Day 3 of fourth Test of Ashes 2023. Bairstow batted with the lower order and the tail to push England’s first innings score to 600. While James Anderson contributed to the 10th wicket partnership by taking frequent singles via byes and surviving against Australia seamers, Bairstow missed a chance to score 100 and remained stranded on 99. In doing so, Bairstow entered Test cricket record books.
Bairstow is the second England batter in Test cricket history to stay not out on 99. Geoffrey Boycott was the first to achieve the feat. He did it at Perth in December 1979. He scored 99 runs from 285 balls against Australia.
Overall, Bairstow is the seventh batter in Test cricket history to remain not out on 99. The first to achieve it was Boycott in 1979. In February 1995, Steve Waugh did it against England at Perth. Four years later, Alex Tudor did it against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
In the 21st century, South Africa's Shaun Pollock was the first to achieve the feat against Sri Lanka at Centurion on November 2002. South Africa's Andrew Hall did it less than a year later against England at Leeds. The last batter before Bairstow to do it was Pakistan's Misbah-ul-Haq. He did it against West Indies at Kingston in April 2017.
Bairstow remained unbeaten for 99 off 81 balls. He hit 10 fours and four sixes. None of the batters from no.8 to no.11 could score in double digits. He took England's score from 474/6 to 592. He shared a crucial 68-run partnership for the 10th wicket with Anderson.
This is England's highest home Ashes total since 1985. It helped the hosts take a massive 275-run lead. England scored 592 runs from 107.4 overs at a run rate of 5.49 runs per over. This is the third-highest run rate in a 500-plus total in Test cricket history. Apart from Bairstow, opener Zak Crawley scored 189 runs from 182 balls including 21 fours and three sixes. Also, Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Harry Brook and skipper Ben Stokes scored half-centuries.
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