PUNE: England opener Jonny Bairstow, who smashed a match-winning 124 in the second ODI, on Friday said he aims to score the most number of hundreds for his country.
Bairstow along with Ben Stokes (99) made a mockery of India’s 337-run target to canter home in 43.3 overs.
In sensational form, Bairstow followed up his 94 in the first ODI to hit his 11th century and he has only Joe Root (16), skipper Eoin Morgan (13) and Marcus Trescothick (12) ahead of him in the list of most hundreds for England.
“Naturally, I would like to have most ODI hundreds for England. Yes I’m happy with those figures, but those figures mean nothing if you don’t win. I’m really enjoying my game,” Bairstow said after guiding England to their highest successful chase against India.
In pursuit of 318 in the first ODI, Bairstow had given an equally spectacular start but a middle-order collapse meant that they lost the match by 66 runs.
“A couple of days ago, we were way ahead of the game, but that’s something we spoke about and identified. It is something that we’re really pleased with.”
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In Pics: Bairstow, Stokes star as England beat India to level ODI series 1-1
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Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes launched a six-hitting feast as England chased down 337 against India in a series-levelling win in the second ODI on Friday. The three-match series is now level at 1-1 with the decider on Sunday. (PTI Photo)
Bairstow (124) and Stokes (99) put on 175 for the second wicket and smashed 17 sixes between them as England romped home in 43.3 overs with six wickets to spare in Pune. (PTI Photo)
Stokes, who hit 10 sixes in his 52-ball blitz, missed out on his hundred after being caught behind off Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Bairstow fell to Prasidh Krishna, who also bowled stand-in-skipper Jos Buttler for a duck. (AFP Photo)
England lost three wickets for three runs, but Dawid Malan (16) and debutant Liam Livingstone (27) took the team home with an unbroken stand of 50. It was England’s fifth-highest ODI chase and their best against India. (PTI Photo)
Bairstow led the charge, tearing into the Indian attack with a 110-run opening stand with Jason Roy, who made 55. Roy was run out for 55 in a mix up with Bairstow. (PTI Photo)
Bairstow raised his 11th ODI hundred in 95 balls with a six off Kuldeep Yadav, who also took a hammering from Stokes as the Englishman hammered him for three successive sixes in one over as he raced from 50 to 99 in just 12 balls. (AP Photo)
Earlier Rahul, who scored a brilliant 108, was involved in century stands with skipper Virat Kohli, who made 66, and then Rishabh Pant, who smashed a rapid 77 to take India to 336-6 in 50 overs after being put in to bat first. (AP Photo)
Reece Topley sent back Shikhar Dhawan caught at slip for four and fellow quick Sam Curran got Rohit Sharma out for 25. (AP Photo)
Kohli, who was dropped on 35 by Buttler off Adil Rashid, completed his fifth fifty in seven international innings before being finally caught by Buttler off Rashid. (AP Photo)
Rahul, who hit seven fours and two sixes to reach his fifth ODI hundred, put on 113 for the third wicket with Pant before he was caught off Tom Curran. (PTI Photo)
The left-hander Pant reached his fifty with a six and smashed seven sixes in his 40-ball blitz. (PTI Photo)
Bairstow further credited their batting depth to play with freedom at the top.
“Yes absolutely. We have Adil Rashid coming in at 10 or 11. Adil on his own rights has got 10 first class hundreds. To have that kind of player coming in at 10 or 11, not many teams around the world have that.
“If you couple that with the powerhitters in Moeen Ali, Curran brothers, the list can go on. So yeah, definitely does give you a lot of confidence knowing that the batting lineup is strong,” he said.
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