If the first day is anything to go by, England’s much-trumpeted reset is going to be a rollercoaster. Dire straits in the morning, the top four all gone with just 48 on the board. But, by stumps, a rather prettier picture, 268 for six.
For that they had Jonny Bairstow to thank. He made his second century of 2022 in his second Test of the year, continuing his promising return since a mid-Ashes recall. This, just as in Sydney in January (England’s only Ashes century, and the only game they did not lose), was a sensational backs-to-the-wall effort; patient, but punctuated with punchy boundaries.
