Joe Root tops 10,000 Test runs as his 115 uneliminated match-winners put England 1-0 up in a three-Test series against New Zealand with two to play. watch the first day of the second test from 10am, Friday, Sky Sports Cricket
Joe Root scored a masterful 26th century and passed 10,000 test runs as he led England to a five-wicket win over New Zealand on day four of the LV=Insurance series opener at Lord’s.
England again needed 61 runs with five wickets in hand to complete a 277 chase having recovered from 69-4 the previous afternoon thanks mainly to ex-captain Root (115th) and new skipper Ben Stokes (54th).
Root, who began the day on 77, extended his sixth-wicket position with Ben Foakes (32nd) to an unbroken 120 as England secured a first Test victory in 10 tries and ensured the Stokes and Brendon McCullum era was off to a victorious start. .
New Zealand would have been helped by the wet and cloudy conditions around Lord’s, as well as the length of England’s queue and the fact that they could ask for the second new ball in 15 overs if necessary.
But Root, whose 157-ball ton was the first in the fourth inning of a Test, and Foakes shone under a leaden sky, meaning Matthew Potts, Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Matt Parkinson weren’t needed at bat and that the game was closed. up to seven deliveries before the new ball was available.
Root bowled Tim Southee over midwicket for four to complete the victory for England, who can now claim a first Test series win since January 2021 if they triumph at Trent Bridge from Friday.
Root reached triple figures and became the fourteenth man and youngest to reach 10,000 trial runs when he scored his 23rd run of the morning.
The man from Yorkshire achieved this latest milestone at exactly the same age as Sir Alastair Cook (31 years, 157 days), the only other Englishman with more than 10,000 Test runs, when he took Southee into the side of the leg for two.
Sunday’s serene conclusion was in stark contrast to much of the rest of the Test, which was a frantic, swinging affair with England top in stages but looking set for another morale-sapping defeat in others.
Stokes’ side outscored New Zealand by just 132 on day one: debuting Potts and the remembered Anderson shared eight wickets, but then capitulated 59-0 to 141 in response, as their long-standing batting woes became obvious once again.
Potts, Anderson and Broad then cut New Zealand to 56–4 in their second innings, by which time the Black Caps’ lead was a paltry 47 and a two-day finish, not seen at Lord’s since 1888, seemed plausible.
Daryl Mitchell (108 from 203 balls) and Tom Blundell (96 from 198) rescued New Zealand with a fifth-wicket partnership of 195 as the Tourists’ lead increased to 242, only for England to launch a superb ball response. Saturday. tomorrow, taking six wickets for 34 runs.
England’s first-order weaknesses were on display again as they fell to 69-4 in the rushing chase, but a 90 fifth-wicket alliance between Root and Stokes steadied the home team: Stokes pardoned by a Colin de Grandhomme no -ball after cutting into his stumps when he only had one career to his name.
However, Root found a good ally in Foakes, with the latter hitting a batch of limits early on day four after resuming undefeated on day nine.
However, the final day was all about Root, who became only the third man to hit an unbeaten hundred in the fourth inning of a Lord’s Test, after Gordon Greenidge for the West Indies against England in 1984 and Nasser Hussain for England against England. New Zealand in 2004.
Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain: “It was brilliant, from the first dance to the final scenes. There was no drama on Sunday, but there was one individual that the country and English cricket fans wanted to support and that was Root.
“They love him and it was such a happy time for him to reach 10,000 test races and push England to the limit.
“It’s a change of era for English cricket and it was absolutely vital that they start with a win. You can imagine the confidence in that dressing room now.”
“All the youngsters will be hanging on every word from McCullum and Stokes and will want to improve. It’s just a start and they can’t get dizzy, but it’s the start England needed.”
Watch the first day of the second LV= Insurance Test between England and New Zealand, at Trent Bridge, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10am on Friday.
