Monday, June 6, 2022

Nailbiter

Ben’s first Test as England captain was a nailbiter.

After New Zealand were dismissed on the opening day for 132, England also struggled.

Fragile batting was again evident as the home team were dismissed for 141.

On the whole New Zealand were equally fragile in their second innings.

The notable exceptions were Daryl Mitchell (108) and Tom Blundell’s (96), whose 195 run partnership, tipped the Test in New Zealand’s favour.

England required 277 runs for victory. And at 69-4 any chance of winning appeared a distant prospect.

Ben (54) and Joe Root (115*) then started to claw England back into contention.

A frantic and at time streaky England captain applied pressure to the New Zealand bowlers, in particular the spin of Ajaz Patel.

Ben took 106 balls to score his second half-century off New Zealand at Lord’s. More importantly for England, the Root-Stokes pairing shared a 90 run partnership to steady frayed nerves.

In Lord’s Tests, Ben has now scored 208 runs (AVG 62.00) from four innings against the Blackcaps.

After Ben’s dismissal, Root played another memorable innings for his country.

Together with Ben Foakes (32*) Root steered England to victory on a murky fourth day morning. The pair shared an unbeaten 120 run partnership with Root passing 10000 Test runs on his way to his twenty sixth Test match century.

After the completion of the Test Ben said,

"Playing at Lord's is special but to come away with the win after the way it ebbed and flowed was brilliant."

"Mr Dependable Joe Root was amazing. I am so pleased for him. And having Broad and Anderson back was such a boost. They are such an inspiration. To see them running in with their knees up getting the crowd going was special."

(Photo by Ashley Vlotman Vlotman Gallo/Getty Images)

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