Bairstow blasts Bengal Tigers with 84 from 26 balls in T10 League

England's Jonny Bairstow was on fire as he blasted the Bengal Tigers for 88 from 24 balls.

Kerala Knights' hopes of reaching the qualifiers may have gone up in smoke, but their final flourish in the T10 League will never be forgotten by the iconic Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Playing in only his second match in the second edition of the tournament, Kerala Knights' English wicketkeeper batsman Jonny Bairstow came up with a breathtaking exhibition of strokeplay, writing his name in the record books.

Bairstow's stunning 84 off 24 balls (six fours and eight sixes) - the highest individual score of the tournament - brought the crowd to their feet as he helped the Knights beat Bengal Tigers by seven wickets.

Chasing 124, the Knights reached home in just 8.4 overs.

And it was Bairstow that provided the fireworks for a team that lost Paul Stirling and Eoin Morgan in the second over.

Chris Gayle (19, 10 balls, 2 fours and one six) then failed to convert his start, but Bairstow just walked out and destroyed the Tigers morale with some of the cleanest hits you can see in limited overs cricket.

For a man who just came from Sri Lanka after having played a patient knock of 110 off 186 balls in the third Test, Bairstow changed gears effortlessly as though he had never been away from white-ball cricket. "It's a great feeling. I am just coming back from Sri Lanka, so I was just enjoying out there. That's the main thing," he told reporters at the post-match press conference.

"It was important to have the smile on the face and, you know, I just had an amazing time with the bat today (Friday). That's why we play the game."

Bairstow said it was all about getting the right momentum from the start especially when you lose early wickets in a chase.

"When you need 124 off 10 overs, there's not much you can do really. You have to try to hit as many sixes, as many fours as possible because when you need 13-14 in an over, it's tough," he said.

But even as the asking rate was rising, the 29-year-old right-hander had no problem against the Bengal Tigers bowlers as he launched a brutal attack on them, making a mockery of the target.

Earlier, the Tigers, after being put into bat, managed to set up a competitive target. Despite losing England opener Luke Wright in the third over, Sunil Narine (52, 25 balls, 4 fours, 4 sixes) and Sherfane Rutherford (39, 17 balls, 4 fours, 3 sixes) produced the big hits as they shared 57 runs off 27 balls.

But in the end, their efforts were not enough as the Tigers bowlers had no answer to Bairstow's brilliance. Such was the dominance of Bairstow that Fabien Allen (11 not out, 11 balls, 1 four) hardly needed to do anything in his 70-run unbroken partnership with the Englandman.

rituraj@khaleejtimes.com
Brief scores: Bengal Tigers 123/5 in 10 overs (Sunil Narine, Sherfane Rutherford 39; Benny Howell 2/23, Sohail Tanvir 1/15) lost to Kerala Knights 126/3 in 8.4 overs (Jonny Bairstow 84 not out; Mohammad Nabi 2/18) by seven wickets.