Fastest ODI half-century for England: Jonny Bairstow equals Eoin Morgan with 21-ball 50 vs Ireland

Fastest ODI half-century for England: The English wicket-keeper batsman equaled his captain’s record of fastest ODI half-century by an English batsman.

During the second match of the ongoing Ireland’s tour of England in Southampton, England wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow has provided a quickfire start to his team in a 213-run chase.

Despite losing his opening partner Jason Roy (0) and James Vince (16) cheaply, Bairstow continued to assault the Irish bowlers. Having hit his first boundary over cover on the fourth delivery that he faced, the right-hand batsman hit another one on the following delivery.

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Targeting Joshua Little in the next over, Bairstow hit three fours to further up the ante against the new ball. It was at this point in time that Bairstow gave impressions of favouring the leg-side as he continually whacked the short-arm pull to accumulate runs in the first powerplay.

Fastest ODI half-century for England

On the first ball of the seventh over, Bairstow hit another of his specialized pulls to score his first six of the match. It was on the first delivery of the eighth over that Bairstow hit Andy McBrine down the ground to register a thumping 21-ball half-century.

The 30-year old batsman equaled the feat achieved by his captain Eoin Morgan as both the batsmen now have the joint-fastest ODI half-century for England. Morgan had hit 67 (30) including three fours and six sixes against Australia a couple of years ago when England had amassed a record-breaking 481/6 in 50 overs.

Before Morgan, the record was held by England wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler who had hit a 22-ball half-century whilst scoring 90* (51) with the help of seven fours and as many sixes as England had hit 444/3 against Pakistan in 2016. Both Morgan and Buttler had achieved their feat in Nottingham.

Bairstow, who is currently batting at 73* (36), has a chance to outdo Buttler (46) in terms of fastest ODI century by an English batsman.