Dugout News: England wins first Test match against New Zealand as Root scores 26th Test ton
The roller-coaster of a Test Match sealed in favour of England, giving the first test win to England's new captain Ben Stokes and coach Brandon McCullum
Joe Root of England and Ben Foakes of England celebrate England's test win over New ZealandWith 61 runs needed and five wickets in the tank, the hosts made sure they didn't loosen up for a bit. Though the team struggled at the start, Ben Stokes and Joe Root made 277 runs smooth.
Former skipper Joe Root allied with Ben Foakes at the end of day three and continued their form on Day 4. New Zealand failed to take momentum even once to their side, looking lacklustre. Joe Root raised an unbeaten match-winning century stand to take England home. Starting from 77 on Day 4, Root scored an unbeaten 115, whereas Ben Foakes made 32 off 92 to witness the first win. This was his 26th Test century, leading him to 10,000 test runs. He is the only second Englishman to achieve the feat after Sir Alastair Cook.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly hailed the batter, "Joe Roooooooot ..what a player what a knock under pressure ..an all time great ..@bcci @icc," tweeted Ganguly.
In the post-match presentation, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson also hailed Root's inning, "Amazing player, Joe took them over the line. Absolutely (we respect him a lot in New Zealand). Truly unbelievable achievement (10000 Test runs). Recognizing the quality of the player for such a long period of time, world-class player."
Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman wrote, "No better feeling than a match-winning 100 in a pressure run chase. Many congratulations to @root66 on an incredible 100 and on reaching 10000 Test runs, massive achievement. #ENGvNZ"
"Joe Root has 10,000 Test runs. And he's just 31 Well played and congratulations @root66 #ENGvNZ" tweeted Wasim Jaffer.
Though the match was expected to be a batting beauty at Lord's, the first inning was about bowlers. Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell tried in the second inning to build a solid lead but somehow was insufficient to stop England from chasing it down clinically. The trio of Anderson, Broad and Pott were enough to use conditions and blew Kiwis away. England and New Zealand will now square off in the second Test at Trent Bridge, beginning June 10, with England having a lead of 1-0.