England claw back after massive double century stand

England staged a spectacular comeback in the Headingley Test that left New Zealand stunned by stumps on the second day as the hosts finished with 264/6, just 65 runs behind New Zealand's first innings total. Jonny Bairstow hit his second successive ton and Jamie Overton finished unbeaten on 89 as their 209-run stand completely changed the complexion of this Test match.

The hosts were in all sorts of trouble when Overton joined Bairstow out in the middle as England were teetering at 55/6, still 274 behind. At that stage, the writing was on the wall for the home side with the New Zealand pace trio running havoc. But the pair defied the odds with the ball still moving around and counterpunched their way out of trouble to turn England's fortunes around.

Both Bairstow and Overton did receive reprieves prior to the tea break but it was one-way traffic in the final session. A boundary was scored at least once almost every over in that final session with Overton bringing up the century stand with a six. He did get hit on the helmet immediately after getting to his fifty but even that hardly managed to shake him off his feet as he continued to plunder the bowling attack.

Bairstow, who was scoring over 100 for most part of his innings, was in no mood to slow down either. Overton almost caught up with the wicketkeeper-batsman at one stage after fetching a six and a couple of fours off Neil Wagner to completely thrill the crowd. In due course, Bairstow managed to bring up three figures and cashed in on a stunned bowling attack right at the end with a few more boundaries to race to 130. Unless something dramatic happens again, New Zealand will not be fetching a sizeable first-innings lead.

That was not the case in the post lunch session when Trent Boult ripped through the hosts' batting lineup. Boult found plenty of swing with the brand new cherry and breached through the defence of Alex Lees, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope. Tim Southee then handed England a major blow by getting rid of Joe Root to leave the home side reeling at 21/4. While Ben Stokes did launch a counterattack, his approach saw England slip further to 55/6, from which it appeared that there wouldn't be a way back.

Earlier in the day, Daryl Mitchell hit his third successive Test century to help New Zealand post 329 in their first innings. New Zealand lost Tom Blundell early after he went past 50 as England continued to strike again. Southee's useful cameo helped the visitors go past 300 before Jack Leach picked up the final two wickets to finish with a five-fer.

Brief scores: England 264/6 (Jonny Bairstow 130*, Jamie Overton 89*; Trent Boult 3/73) trail New Zealand 329 (Daryl Mitchell 109, Tom Blundell 55; Jack Leach 5/100) by 65 runs