Jonny Bairstow’s stunning 136 from just 92 balls and Ben Stokes’ unbeaten 75 led England to an incredible five wicket victory, and with it an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three game series.
The impact of new head coach Brendon McCullum was already being felt after the first Test, but his stamp on Trent Bridge can’t be understated either. There’s so much to unpick.
What a ridiculous game of cricket
It almost defies description and analysis, which is a problem when you’ve got to write 16 pieces of description and analysis about it because someone once did so about a football game on Football365 for a laugh and now you’re stuck with the format apparently forever.
But before we attempt anything vaguely serious let’s just start with this: what an enormous, absurd amount of fun that all was.
That match was a huge shot in the arm for Test cricket everywhere.
It doesn’t matter where exactly you sit on the “Test cricket is dying!” panic – the sky has been falling in for Test cricket almost as long as it has been around, and it’s still here the mad old time-consuming bastard – to realise that games like this, with atmospheres like this, in front of crowds like this can only help the longest form.
We’re not asking that every game or every series be as absurd as this one; just that this sort of thing happens often enough to keep everyone interested.
This is now one of those matches that joins the likes of Edgbaston ’05 and Headingley ’81 or ’19 in the consciousness. It is a game that will be brought up every time there is third-innings declaration speculation in every match England play from now until the seas rise and claim us all.
Five-wicket win is a footnote
Just as at Lord’s, the game ends in a five-wicket win for England. Just as at Lord’s, this tells but a fraction of the story.
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