In the 2019 NBA postseason, Damian Lillard scored one of the most memorable shots in playoff history, hitting a 37-foot buzzer-beating three-pointer to clinch the Portland Trail Blazers’ first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

What gave the recording additional cultural significance were Paul George’s subsequent comments. “That’s a really bad shot,” said George, who was guarding Lillard. “I don’t care what anyone says. That’s a bad shot.”

George was half right. The scores were even at this point and it was an unnecessarily high risk to shorten the time for a shot from that distance. But Lillard had made 39.2% of his shots from 30 to 40 feet this season, well above the league average of 25.9%. It was a “bad” shot for everyone else, but not for Lillard.

England were bowled out for 280 in 54.4 overs and Brooks’ 123 seemed to be the perfect execution of the others’ mistakes, taking risks deeper and coming out the other side in style. He created hustle and chaos in typical Basin reserve conditions, which required patience and careful, calm defense from batsmen. Fame came with perhaps the defining turning point of his career.

That it was his second fastest century in just 91 deliveries was in keeping with the mood of the innings. They were stuck (although Stokes said he would have batted first if he had won the toss), their first innings going at 5.12 per over.

Only five batters reached double figures, with Brook being the only Ranger to hit better than a run a ball. All with a false shot rate of 29%, bettered only by Ollie Pope (23%) in the top seven, who faced 37 fewer deliveries (for 57 fewer runs).

England’s approach was peculiar, even if it practiced what it preached. They often try to quickly achieve above-average results when conditions are unfavorable to them. After 26 overs, New Zealand were 86 for 5. At this point in the innings, England were 124 for 4. It’s fair to say they’ve done it.

Actually, Brook did it. Arrived at 26 for 3 in the 11th over, departed at 259 for 7 at the start of the 53rd over. Devastation between collapses, like a grenade between two stale slices of Mighty White.

As Root fended off an outside-kick from Smith, Brook charged forward and fired the busy seamer over extra cover for sixes. The first of three was bowled out in a 20-run blitz after Smith’s fourth over – a 50-4 counterattack for England. Brook even made Root’s patented leadership through the slips work for him twice, although it was the stroke that brought about Root’s downfall. Brook was essentially making fun of the man who was ahead of him in the ICC Test rankings.

During the innings break, New Zealand were rightly pleased with their work. But the bowling figures hinted at earlier devastation, like abandoned cars on the highway.

Henry, the most economical in the home attack (at 2.86 the only bowler to concede fewer than four overs), conceded 31 of the six overs he exchanged with Brook and 12 of the nine overs against everyone else.

Smith bowled better for his four wickets from 11.4 overs than the 86 runs conceded would suggest – 34 coming from 25 deliveries at Brook. At least he retaliated by dismissing Brook, triggering a collapse that resulted in England’s last four wickets falling in 16 deliveries.

“He showed today that we could bowl pretty well and he tried to bowl us out the length with his feet,” Smith, from Brook, said. “He played some ridiculous shots, so full credit goes to him.”

It’s tempting to say that Brook chose his deliveries better, but he didn’t. At all. He was simply better. Quick hands, two right feet, a precise eye, clear mind and ice in his veins. Off the cuff and out of this world. Far more carefree than his 171 in Christchurch, and yet he fell five times then and was clean here.

“I’m not sure you can run down on instinct – you’ll have to think about that first,” Brook admitted with the most humble of boasts. With a current average of 61.80, he is third on the all-time Test averages list. He’ll always be second best to Bradman, but today he turned water into a top-notch Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc.

The irony is that for all the talent in this England team – whether realized or not – Brook is simply different. His shots were not reproducible, his movements were only possible to the top of one percent, provided they also had imagination and courage. Especially the sixes over extra cover, even if he thought they were ordinary.

“It actually felt like a pretty easy shot today,” he said of those ridiculous shots. “I tried to cut my hip and bring it down, but it just wasn’t working, so I felt like it would be a lot easier for me to get as close to the path of the ball as possible.”

Although England are 194 points ahead and New Zealand are already five points behind, they should probably be even more ahead. Bad shots led to their demise. The same bad shots in which Brooks’ name is in the spotlight. Finally, the glory of the result is all the greater because of the magnitude of the risk involved.

As George admitted at the end of his 2019 press conference: “But hey, he did it. The story isn’t told that it was a bad shot.”