England v New Zealand - Second Test Match at Trent Bridge

 

All sorts of records were broken at Trent Bridge for the second test match between England and New Zealand. Johnny Bairstow's 77 ball hundred did not break the record, but that was in 1902. And he did score 93 in 43 balls after tea! His 179 run  partnership with Ben Stokes was the quickest by run rate for one over 20 overs and the third fastest century stand in test cricket. The 299 run chase came at 5.98 runs per over and no team had successfully chased over 200 runs at that rate. 

This was the first test match with an aggregate of 1000 plus boundaries. The overall scoring rate for the whole match was 4.10, the highest for a test where more that 2100 balls were bowled. The 1675 total runs in the match was the highest for 15 years. 

And it goes on. Alison and I were privileged to watch some of the chase on the final day where the crowd were let in for free and added to the fabulous atmosphere. What a change from the turgid tests of old. Obviously the pitch helped, and I'm not sure if this is a proper "test" between bat and ball. Although the dropped catches had a part to play.