Jonny Bairstow farmed the strike with England’s tail so superbly on the second morning here at Old Trafford that the wicketkeeper from the other side of the Pennines could well be challenging Alastair Cook as the team’s most agriculturally inclined cricketer.
Though he fell one run short of what would have been a fourth Test century, the Yorkshireman’s impact on this series finale could well prove the decisive blow against a South Africa side that finished 220 for nine by stumps, trailing by 142 runs and looking ever more ready for the airport.
At the start of the day the balance of power was up for debate. England were 260 for six with a nightwatchman in, Moeen Ali due in at No9 and the tourists eyeing a mop-up job. Bairstow, who had survived an overruled slip catch the previous evening, resumed unbeaten on 33, adding 20 more runs to his personal haul by the time Jimmy Anderson joined him at No11.
From 312 for nine Bairstow seized the initiative and helped the toothpaste-tinged pints being supped around the ground slip down a little easier. During a 55-ball stand of 50 with Anderson he faced all but 15, driving Faf du Plessis into the depths of captaincy despair that left the masterful marshalling of his marionettes at Trent Bridge a slightly distant memory.
There was a chance offered early in this momentum-swinging 45-minute vignette that took England to their 362 all out. Kagiso Rabada, who had ended Toby Roland-Jones’s promotion and one of the more luxuriant 14s you will see from Moeen, was denied a five-wicket haul when an edge from Bairstow’s bat was grassed by Quinton de Kock.
England’s No7 was unruffled and began spreading the fielders to all corners of the ground with some meaty cuts and drives that continued Morne Morkel’s largely luckless tour, while picking off smart singles to keep Anderson’s exposure to a minimum.
Duanne Olivier copped the best of Bairstow upon his introduction, with the seven scouts placed on the rope by Du Plessis taken out of the equation with a cheeky over-the-shoulder sweep for four followed by a dismissive straight six off the right-armer that flew into the newly named James Anderson End and took the batsman into the 90s.
This time there would be no single, however, as a silkily guided four through third man made it 94.
Anderson, given a rare over to see out in his support act, induced a heart-in-the-mouth moment when an attempted reverse sweep off Keshav Maharaj thudded into the pads. Du Plessis desperately, and incorrectly, went upstairs.
It was the first of two reviews that would uphold the on-field decision of Kumar Dharmasena but sadly for Bairstow, and to the relief of South Africa, the second of these calls was out. Maharaj, with a ball that looked to have struck the right-hander outside the line when trying to sweep his way to three figures, made it a 99 flake thanks to the amber of umpire’s call.
Nevertheless, this provided the latest slab of evidence for those that maintain No7 is Bairstow’s best spot. Not only do the statistics back this up – his average of 49 there is his best of any position – it just feels right; the perfect fit for his inventive stroke play and the wing-heeled running between the wickets that turns ones into twos.
There is no question Bairstow has the game for No5 but his determination to keep wicket – he delivers an icy stare when asked if he wants to be a specialist batsman – and the balance of the side will surely see the current plan carry through to the Ashes this winter.
While his glovework dipped a smidgeon in South Africa’s faltering reply with a couple of early duffs and a tricky missed stumping, it was from a new level reached this summer. Though his catch down leg to remove Hashim Amla was a simple pouch, it was also his 100th dismissal as a Test wicketkeeper.
This was not the century he was after on the day, but Bairstow, who neatly held on to De Kock late in the piece to contrast with his opposite number’s earlier goof, will be as proud of this landmark as with his continuing batting exploits.
