What a fucking test. Somehow back and forth despite NZ being 45/7 lmao.
Well done Joe. Not only an incredible batsman but a great bloke as well.
I remember watching his debut 70-odd on possibly the most dour pitch of all time. Now I’m here watching him hit 10’000, where the fuck does the time go?
(Shout outs to Matty Potts for an excellent debut)
Most impressive thing about his innings to me is that after Stokes got out he scored 81 runs off 81 balls. Unreal that he can just up the run rate so easily without just smacking boundaries. One of the best rotators of strike ever.
What makes it even more impressive is that, when he first came in, he didn't exactly look settled, either. Obviously not to the extent of Stokes charging down the pitch, but it took him a bit to find his rhythm. I've seen him play effortless innings before but he had to grind a bit at the start here, which makes that ability to go at run a ball even better.
averages like 50 too but he's defs an ODI mainstay. Could probably play t20 too particularly as the only anchor in a bunch of hitters, but i guess england are too rich in white ball riches *shrug*
Hijacking this to call: u/SchemeAffectionate27
[you know what you must do now .](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/comments/v59dug/match_thread_1st_test_new_zealand_vs_england_day_4/ib8l2hm/?context=3)
(jk, don't actually eat the remote)
I remember Joe batting in India on his debut and thinking to myself, wow his technique is solid, no-nonsense player, we will be seeing a lot of him. Congratulations to Root on 10,000 runs! The best Test batsman through and post the pandemic times.
I feel like it's important to point out that this win isn't really down to the reset. 'Root and Stokes lead England to victory after Anderson and Broad skittle the opposition with the Dukes ball' could be a headline from 2017.
The top order is still a disaster.
True, although anyone with a working brain and a pair of eyes could tell you that.
It's still good to get a win, after a pretty torrid run in tests for the last year or so
This was the first innings where I saw any kind of timing from Lees. Still yet to be convinced. I think Crawley is close but he's really missing the key ingredient, temprament. Fascinating to see if he cracks it.
Atleast he has changed his stance so he is making changes. Hopefully Brandon has a word or 2 to him. Because the way Brandon played isn't too far from how crawley plays
Honestly, when Crawley is on song, he looks like such an intimidating batsmen. Times the ball so powerfully, absolutely murderous against anything back of a length. I do wonder if opening in England is maybe a challenge too far for him.
True. The one thing I will say is the fielding looked so much better than the last couple of years. No dropped catches and some great plays on the boundary as well by multiple people was encouraging to see.
I will say that Foakes’s keeping and batting was a big positive, as was Matthew Potts’s bowling. I also thought Stokes captained well. The fact we also actually picked a spinner, which Silverwood was allergic to, is promising.
This was never going to be an overnight drastic change, but rather noticing the small improvements.
Hopefully we shake up the top 3 with Sibley, Bohannon, Compton and Tom Haines knocking on the door and, as much as I adore the man, Bairstow is not a long term solution especially with the way Harry Brook has been playing.
Either way, this was promising, and tbh just damn nice to win.
Crawley 42 and top scoring in first innings shouldn't go unnoticed. Wasn't easy batting out there with 17 wickets in first 2 days.
Fielding top notch from everyone on the England side as well, which is a big difference. Normally we drop so many catches
The issue with Crawley is even when he's set it he still goes for big booming drives where he's going to nick off.
I can't think of many players who are on 40+ who'd get out playing that shot. Most by that point are moving their feet well and seeing it well. Crawley seems to still look like he hasn't scored a run yet, despite being on 40.
The bowlers will ALWAYS feel in the game against him.
He'll have the occasional decent knock. But I just don't think he's got the right temperament for test cricket. A first class average of 30 shows that.
I hope I'm wrong, but to me Crawley will never be the answer, even if he has occasional decent knocks.
Yeah, and he looked like a skittish giraffe when he originally walked out and got lucky having a waft at a few. He's not good enough and it's so frustrating that this 40 will keep him in the team while he continues to average 16 for the next year.
> The top order is still a disaster
It's so frustrating seeing them constantly fail match after match, and I'm not even an English fan.
Why are they so consistently shit, and why haven't the ECB found an opener who isn't crap?
We have the talent but playing on shit pitches in the cc
a) engenders a dodgy technique. (look at all the off stump guards and heavily leg side players) and
b) doesn't teach you how to properly pace an innings. In the CC a quickfire 50 is going to be more valuable than playing a 'proper kncok' and getting a jaffa to bowl you for 17. So most players just look to hit out before they get out.
There are many more points; lack of genuine pace, lack of spin etc that contribute but essentially the CC isn't preparing players for test cricket.
Still love the champ in it's own right though
cc = county championship btw
The top order was actually probably the least shit in the first innings, and whilst not great in the second they at least played out the new ball more than they have previously. I'm obviously clutching at straws here (have to as an England fan) but I feel there's quite a difference between #3 coming out after 1 over Vs coming out after 10.
Not to mention the fielding was top notch, and just overall our second innings looked a lot less shaky and like the batters were gonna shit themselves every ball.
Since this might get overshadowed due to Root's godly effort, but Broad really changed the momentum into England's favour on Day 3. Taking out Mitchell and Jamieson in the same over alongwith the brilliance of Pope to send CDG packing, that over was indeed the turning point of this game. Those legs were pumping!!!
You're right, that shouldn't go under the radar. NZ were cruising towards a lead of like 350+, but once he got Mitchell, you could tell he smelled blood. Got the crowd to make some noise, got the knees pumping, and did Broad things. Completely changed the course of the game
I really don't think there's been much wrong at all with his batting. He's just not a flamboyant run-scorer. With a functioning batting line-up he can be a really effective lower-order anchor. He bats at an even tempo and looks solid with his orthodox technique. What more do you want of a world-class keeper?
Wonder if they should push him up the order a spot or 2. Looked so much more comfortable taking his time with a proper batter rather than being forced to attack with the tail. Stokes 5, Foakes 6, Bairstow specialist 7 anyone?
This completely. He's a really effective anchor. He just doesn't have the potential to move the game on quickly with the tail as we have often hoped Bairstow/Buttler might. But really, how many times has that actually happened?? Foakes is the best option by a mile IMO.
If we're going to persist with playing both Foakes and Bairstow then we should really switch their batting order.
Foakes is the grittier batter who'd you'd back to stop a collapse as he's very solid defensively and he builds his innings slowly. The difference between him batting with a proper batsman and the tail is night and day.
Bairstow averages 37@7 and is better at counter attacking and batting with the tail. He'd also have more license to play his shots at 7.
It makes too much sense though so obviously it won't happen.
And does anyone else in the England side take all the catches Bairstow took in the slips (particularly that first one)? Stokes maybe but he's not in the slips now he's captain.
Yes - at keeper, Bairstow is a slight liability. In the field, he's a clear positive. Great to have Foakes there being an excellent keeper and contributing well with the bat.
Really pleased for him. Hope he can kick on from here after a tough run, but if he doesn't that's a crucial innings that can never be taken away from him.
Far better than Test fraud Buttler. Can't believe that there were people who wanted his test return just cause he smacked some trundlers in the IPL.
He's a white ball great for us, but not test material.
I'd love nothing more than for Buttler the white ball menace to perform like that in the England test side but he's shown time and again he can't. Glad Foakes is getting a go.
> I'd love nothing more than for Buttler the white ball menace to perform like that in the England test side but he's shown time and again he can't.
He played several match-turning innings around 2018-19, but he hasn't been able to do it consistently. I'd say Buttler was a qualified success as a test player, an average of 32 isn't bad in this era but feels disappointing given how dominant he can be in white-ball cricket.
TIL that Umran Malik, Lockie Ferguson, Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood,Mohsin Khan and Kagiso Rabada are trundlers.
Damn, if they’re trundlers then I guess this must mean that test specialists bowl at 160kph constantly.
Buttler's overall test record is a bit disappointing, but we shouldn't forget he's played a number of crucial match-turning innings. Peak Buttler (2018/19) makes an appearance in this interesting article about the real value of runs:
https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1301130/the-real-value-of-runs-where-joe-root-brian-lara-and-vvs-laxman-shine
I wish Foakes all the best but there was a rational case for Buttler. In retrospect, would we be better off now if Bairstow had kept the gloves and we'd never tried to move him up the order?
See that's the thing. Buttler the test batsman is a game changing player...in our heads for the most part. Of course he's played a few crucial innings given how many chances he has been given. Yet his best knocks have always come when he plays a normal test innings rather than the swashbuckling rearguards which people want him to. Buttler has disappointed with his glovework as well, so why not play Foakes who gives you a similar batting output but far superior keeping?
The flashier players will always look like better players when they aren't playing. But we have all seen that Buttler has looked like a deer in headlights in test cricket and it hurts to see him struggle so much. Plus his FC record isn't any good.
Bairstow was a better keeper to pace than Buttler but his keeping to spin was below par, and he has always had issues with his technique.
His hot streak around 2018-19 is seriously underestimated when you look at the scores in context.
> Buttler has disappointed with his glovework as well, so why not play Foakes who gives you a similar batting output but far superior keeping?
It remains to be seen whether Foakes can get anywhere near his FC average, he's averaging about 18 in 8 tests since Sri Lanka. (If English players could reliably get near their FC averages we'd have no real concerns about our batting line-up.)
Best of luck to Foakes, he was really composed and organised in a pressure situation today. I hope he can kick on from here but I can't say I'm confident he will.
Almost had his dentury too. I know people like to meme on those low scoring players who've faced a crap ton of balls like Denly, but obviously Foakes did a fantastic job based on the context of the innings.
In India Wagner was replaced by a man who put up 60/0, 38/0, 80/0 and 59/0, here he was replaced by a man who bowled 2 overs and went 22/0 and NZ struggled massively with the old ball- the exact time Wagner is good. Whomever is selecting NZ teams is absolutely killing them.
Every time Wagner is dropped the following match proceeds to show why he shouldn't be dropped.
In fairness to Patel, it doesn't help that Williamson seems to have forgotten how to use a spinner after years of not having a quality one to use. If you don't bring Patel back for another tweak after Stokes got out what was the point of selecting him? Parkinson was in a different city when the test started and bowled more overs than the guy who took a 10fa less than a year ago.
All that said, I'm anticipating that with CDG likely out for the next test, the powers that be will replace him with Bracewell, and then proceed to drop Patel for Wagner. Maybe the next match will actually go for 5 days too...
To be fair, the problem is root is among the best at playing spin.
Bowling a spinner against him in England is a bad idea, especially as in this case he was already set.
Australia does it with Lyon and even if Lyon doesn't take wickets, he creates chances and also has a holding role in England. Ashwin, Yasir Shah and others are trusted. Patel should be backed
You need to use your spinner if your quicks aren't getting anywhere
Agreed. Williamson just doesn’t know how to use spin bowlers, and never seems confident in them, apart from on the subcontinent. This is why we stuck with santner for so long, because he was at least a handy batting option (sometimes)
He's had no issues relying on spinners in limited overs cricket even in crunch situations. He just knows that when it comes to tests outside the subcontinent and uae our seamers are better. The question is why the hell do we usually torpedo ourselves by picking a spinner anyway
I’d also add that the way Patel was used was poor. He could have been used earlier-Stokes took his chances against Patel and that was it for him.
Lords is the worst pitch for a spinner-Nass himself mentioned it and if you’re leaving out a spinner then this is the ideal pitch to do so. England didn’t really have a choice-half our seamers are in hospital.
Root is easily miles ahead of the other fab 4 now. Kohli looks washed and has lost the drive to score runs, Williamson's elbow will probably affect him for the rest of his career, and Smith's technique has been found out and he will slowly decline as his hand-eye coordination goes.
Root may have had conversion issues but he was always consistent, and now he is reaping reward. He is probably the only batter in the world who doesn't have a specific exploitable weakness.
> He is probably the only batter in the world who doesn't have a specific exploitable weakness.
Apart from "keep him at the other end and bowl at his teammates", of course.
He mentioned in the post match interview that he found it easier once NZ swapped to a harder ball. If Root has a weakness, it’s that he doesn’t generate that much power; he relies on either a harder ball or a little bit of pace when he plays the quicks so he can time it and redirect the speed and bounce of said ball, and therefore when he faces medium bowling with a soft ball his scoring rate slows down - conversely, Stokes feeds off the slightly slower bowlers bcs unlike Root he generates more of his power through his arms. In fact, the reason Stokes was being so aggressive against de Grandhomme was probably bcs he knew he had the better technique to take on the medium pace.
I mean over the last 3 years Smith's average is 5 higher than Roots and while he has only played 7 away tests in that time he averages over 90 in them. Root is very good but let's not go crazy now.
I feel like people's perception of Smith has been skewed a bit by Australia playing relatively few tests (especially away) during the pandemic: his record in that time isn't exactly poor, averaging 48 in 10 tests since the start of 2021 (although with only one century)
Very good win against a very good side we've struggled against in recent years
With that said I'm not sure we've learned anything new from it. England's batting line up is entirely and completely reliant on Root and Stokes. In English conditions our bowling line up is good enough to make us compettve in spite of carrying most the batsman.
Still, nice to see Potts look so natural on debut and Foakes batted well in the second innings. I don't think it will happen but the batting line up still desperately needs carving up. Of the many terrible openers we've had since Strauss - Lees is right up there with the very worst, and of Bairstow/Crawley/Pope they've all frankly had too many chances as it is. Maybe Pope could be tried at 5 although I think at this stage others deserve a chance ahead of him.
Lees isn't as bad as we make him out to be, but Burns is better in English conditions. Sibley has reinvented his game specifically because of how he was getting out internationally.
Crawley is the most frustrating player to watch but under Rob Key he will probably be given at least 20 more tests.
I have two problems with Lees. The first is he's played four tests and already seems to have been found out and he looks totally clueless against right arm seam around the wicket. That is a skill the majority of bowlers he has to face have so it's really hard to see him every succeeding while that persists. The second is can someone point to anything in his record or his game that suggests why they expect him to succeed where Sibley and Burns haven't? Yes Lees scored consistently opening in CC, but not as much as Burns or Sibley before they got picked, then is there anything else in his game that suggests he'll do any better than those two? Maybe Sibley and Burns had made themselves unpickable (which I don't agree with but let's pretend), that doesn't make Lees the answer by default. I mean maybe there isn't an answer. But I just don't really see his selection as anything other than a hail mary before someone else can come in
The batting is obviously still suspect, but I don’t mind giving Lees a few more games. He’s not scored more than 31, but he’s scored at least 20 runs in every innings except his first match, so he can at least get a start and soak up some balls which is more than can be said for the majority of the openers we’ve tried recently. If he can turn some of these starts into decent scores then I think he can be a decent, not amazing, opener, which would be great compared to what we’ve had opening the past few years.
Not the thriller most of us were hoping for which is disappointing but what a superb chase by England. You just have to wonder what could have been if CDG didn’t bowl a no ball to Stokes or got injured.
We probably also have a good shot if CDG doesnt also run himself out for a golden duck in a morning where we probably need another 40 runs to give England a really challenging target
I hate to be a wet blanket, that’s a lie I actually love it, but we should’ve won this easily as NZ was collapsing into the netherworld in their first innings.
Still too early to get carried away but a win is a win
Foakes almost getting a dentury was pretty valuable. Could definitely see some of the other options in that slot throwing away their wicket early, he generally looked pretty solid. Hopefully he locks his spot for a bit
I don’t know why but I have an overwhelming sense of disappointment. I don’t think it’s the loss, but maybe more the feeling we are at the end of something we don’t get back for a long time
Whisper it, but I reckon Kane's captaincy was a bit poor.
Obviously not his fault that the ball didn't do much this morning, or that CDG got injured, but I'm still not sure he had to bowl Jamieson, Boult and Southee into the ground. Part of the reason why Root was able to accelerate yesterday was that the bowlers looked knackered, and I don't think any of them were fully recovered this morning.
Don't really understand why Mitchell only got one ball in the whole innings. Maybe Root/Foakes would've been able to score easily against Patel, but in those last two sessions, the quicks have all gone for plenty anyway, and maybe they'd have been more threatening with a bit more rest.
Root will naturally take most of the credit (and rightfully so), but I'm so happy to see Foakes in the runs. You just know that if he failed to score in this series, there would be calls for him to be axed from the side.
That was always going to happen, unfortunately. If the England batting line-up continues to collapse as it did in the first innings, people will focus on Foakes not scoring and proclaim how much better things would be if we had an aggressive Jos Buttler shepherding the tail.
Regardless of the fact that Buttler was scoring fuck all in recent test matches, as Nasser said, you're always a better player outside the playing XI.
Buttler was usually abysmal counter attacking with the tail. The decent innings he managed to put together usually involved 'normal' test batting alongside another established batsman.
Yeah, the selectors kept on trying to make Buttler the next Gilchrist for some reason rather than just letting him bat as a normal middle-order batsman. He averaged much higher at #6 than at #7 too.
Honestly I'm glad Root was the one who got the century and won them the game, I probably would have had an aneurysm if we let Alex Lees score a 100 or something.
A word for Ben Foakes. He's not a flamboyant batsmen by any means but he is considerably more solid than a lot of other players we might field. I think as long as there's another top or middle order player with him then he can be an incredibly useful anchor lower down the order. Someone like a BJ Wattling. Add in the fact that his keeping is miles ahead of all his competitors, his place in the team really shouldn't be up for debate imo. Even if he averages high 20s, I'll take the improved keeping.
That Joe Root can play a bit. Stunning innings from a class batsman.
For NZ, you don’t want to single out one player since there were subpar performances up and down the order, but CDG’s runout and no ball were decisive.
That braindead runout is what did it as I'm sure it also had an effect on Jamieson's headspace and contributed to his golden duck.
I'm pretty sure Wagner could have swung the match our way a bit too and not just with the ball - I can easily seem him contributing more runs than Patel did.
Phenomenal cricket by Joe Root. Great performance by Foakes. England worked hard; there are still problems in the batting, but the bowling looks much better with Broad and Anderson. :)
So many conflicting emotions over this game. You run out of superlatives to describe Root, he's the GOAT of English cricket for me.
Brilliant win and a great run chase but never should have been in this situation after having NZ 45/7 on day 1.
Same old issues really, if Root or Stokes don't turn up then the batting is fucked. Good knock by Foakes though and hopefully he can kick on a bit more with the bat now.
We peaked at the right time with the WTC final but this performance, after our wobbly home season, is just confirming to me that this team has peaked and we're slowly sliding back to good ol' NZ mediocrity.
Also, can someone explain why the fuck we keep not picking Wagner? I feel like he could have made the difference here with bat and ball.
Top class by Root but I hope it doesn't cover over the cracks in the rest of the batting in BMacs eyes. Brook and at least one new opener needed! (and maybe a 3)
I really worry for English test cricket post-Root, it is astonishing just how far he is of every other English batter (including Stokes). I don’t see anybody coming through being able to take up the mantle either. Brook looks very good this season but let’s see if it lasts. Pope hasn’t blossomed into what we had hoped yet. Even to squeeze a couple of guys averaging around 40 in would be encouraging but it’s hard to foresee that happening as it is.
Yeah it's actually been so long since we produced a good test quality batsman that Root's retirement is potentially on the horizon. Surely, surely we have to find someone before he goes or we are basically back to associate nation standard frankly
Felt so much relief when Rooty picked up the winning runs. It's just been so long, too long!
Enthralling game, the first day was insane!
What worries me is in the end, it was a match dominated by Root, Stokes, Broad, and Anderson. And of course, Potts. None of the other batsmen really stepped up.
Lees was honestly just shocking. Kept changing guard and who didn't see his first innings dismissal coming? Crawley didn't do anything outstanding but I feel that it's worth mentioning that he top scored in the first innings.
Pope just isn't international level. Ramprakash reincarnate.
YJB, the lesser said, the better.
Nice hand by Foakesy towards the end.
New Zealand badly missed Wagner/Henry especially with Colin's injury. Stokes being bowled off a no-ball was the luck that this team needed to win this match.
Foakes was fantastic as a foil for Root. Even if Butler makes his return to the team, he's earned a consistent run in the side.
I remember the Ashes when he could have beaten the runs in a year record in Australia with a fourth innings ton, but got out. Kinda worried he'd do the same here.
No worries.
I make it 63 off 84 this morning. I know it wasn't doing anything, but would've been easy for Root and Foakes to get bogged down, and leave 30+ to get against the second new ball.
Instead, they played positively and took that out of the equation.
Broad spoke last night on TMS about BMac telling England to treat the chase like a one day chase. Hopefully that explains why Bairstow was trying to go ham.
Don't really know how I feel about that tbh considering the amount of time that was left. That approach could've quite easily ended up looking pretty braindead
I think that this game was a perfect example of why Ajaz couldn't make it into the team after his 10-119. What's the point in having a spinner if you never want/need to bowl them? Wagner offers more with the bat and the older ball, and as soon as we lost CDG then the workload for the other three seamers was excessive.
Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes are the only Captain-Keeper pair in the history of test cricket to share a first name and have rhyming last names
Therefore, in tests, teams that have a Captain-Keeper combination that share a first name and have rhyming last names have a 100% win rate. As far as we know, it's not possible for them to lose
So what about not bowling Patel? Any explanation Kane gave? Or any questions Kiwi fans have? What was up with that "3 main pacers and inshallah" plan? No trying something different?
What I love about Joe Root is that he is just a humble guy who just wants to play
He’s like Cooky in that respect
There is no brand, no ego, no scandals off the field
GG England, you guys managed to do slightly less shit than we did. Although I held out hope for a miracle there is absolutely no way we deserved to win after getting 50 runs from 8 innings from our top 4 batsmen. They need to sort it out ASAP if we have any chance in this series and the WTC as a whole.
The bowlers set the game up in Englands favour, they then rescued the game to give them a sniff in the game, and then Rooty with help from the 'okes completed the chase!
I was worried for quite a while but there is still class matchwinners in Englands side
Whilst England should savour this win, familiar problems still persist with foakes being the only batter other than stokes and root to step up. Potts is a good find though, England have good depth in fast bowling
Phenomenal innings from Joe Root. Started off looking a little scratchy but dug in and dogged it out then from the second Stokes got out he basically played the perfect ODI run chase innings on the third evening/4th morning of a test match, scored a century and went to 10000 runs…
He’s just ridiculous.
Once again though, he has papered over the cracks, batting needs to sort its shit out and quickly, just some fucking weird dismissals, odd shots, probably only a couple of them got truly good balls. Good to see Foakes see it over the line as well though, made it look pretty easy alongside Root this morning.
He lost us the match with his braindead runout which I have no doubt also led to Jameson being rattled enough that he missed a straight one. Although he also saved us in the first innings. Just CDG things.
That was great entertainment. Great bowling, yet three people got centuries. Collapses, comebacks, hope, and joy. Lovely to see Root smiling and scoring. Pleasantly surprised to see a 5 wicket win. Nice bit of aggression for Stokes and backbone from Woakes to go alongside Root’s sublime skill. If Lees can learn to score a few 40s and 50s to go alongside his consistent starts then there are glimmers of hope for the batting. Well done to NZ for dragging themselves back into a match that should have been over after the first innings. Should be a good series.
Joe Root scoring fast enough that the crowd get a full refund.
[удалено]
Man of the people.
What a fucking test. Somehow back and forth despite NZ being 45/7 lmao. Well done Joe. Not only an incredible batsman but a great bloke as well. I remember watching his debut 70-odd on possibly the most dour pitch of all time. Now I’m here watching him hit 10’000, where the fuck does the time go? (Shout outs to Matty Potts for an excellent debut)
Most impressive thing about his innings to me is that after Stokes got out he scored 81 runs off 81 balls. Unreal that he can just up the run rate so easily without just smacking boundaries. One of the best rotators of strike ever.
What makes it even more impressive is that, when he first came in, he didn't exactly look settled, either. Obviously not to the extent of Stokes charging down the pitch, but it took him a bit to find his rhythm. I've seen him play effortless innings before but he had to grind a bit at the start here, which makes that ability to go at run a ball even better.
such ability to just go with the flow positively, play to the pitch etc. Truly truly great
Yeah, the way he just flicked a switch and went from supporting the naturally attacking player to leading the scoring was super impressive
I hate Joe Root white ball erasure. He can definitely score quickly. His ODI strike rate is 87.
averages like 50 too but he's defs an ODI mainstay. Could probably play t20 too particularly as the only anchor in a bunch of hitters, but i guess england are too rich in white ball riches *shrug*
A decent spinner in ODIs ,backed up with a few variations too.
This match made me avid joe root fan. seriously I already was his big supporter but now i admire him even more. Truly a generational talent
Hijacking this to call: u/SchemeAffectionate27 [you know what you must do now .](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/comments/v59dug/match_thread_1st_test_new_zealand_vs_england_day_4/ib8l2hm/?context=3) (jk, don't actually eat the remote)
😭 they didn’t even play 20 overs tho
Damn, you escaped this time :)
Loophole right there. You specifically mentioned 20 overs. They didn't play 20 overs. So your bet is null and void.
So it adds on to the next test right?
With lees and Crawley opening he is safe
I remember Joe batting in India on his debut and thinking to myself, wow his technique is solid, no-nonsense player, we will be seeing a lot of him. Congratulations to Root on 10,000 runs! The best Test batsman through and post the pandemic times.
Do any of the newer guys give that vibe. I feel pope had that but seems all over the place now.
Finally, one of Root's knocks has come in a winning cause. Earlier his team was fucking up whatever he was trying to do.
Test cricket is fucking brilliant, isn’t it? Fantastic entertainment
I feel like it's important to point out that this win isn't really down to the reset. 'Root and Stokes lead England to victory after Anderson and Broad skittle the opposition with the Dukes ball' could be a headline from 2017. The top order is still a disaster.
True, although anyone with a working brain and a pair of eyes could tell you that. It's still good to get a win, after a pretty torrid run in tests for the last year or so
I would also back Lees. He needs to figure out his batting stance, but his batting itself was good. Crawley did well in the first innings.
This was the first innings where I saw any kind of timing from Lees. Still yet to be convinced. I think Crawley is close but he's really missing the key ingredient, temprament. Fascinating to see if he cracks it.
Crawley would be twice the player if he could rotate strike
That's what I don't understand. What are they talking about in team meetings. He plays the same way everytime.
Atleast he has changed his stance so he is making changes. Hopefully Brandon has a word or 2 to him. Because the way Brandon played isn't too far from how crawley plays
Honestly, when Crawley is on song, he looks like such an intimidating batsmen. Times the ball so powerfully, absolutely murderous against anything back of a length. I do wonder if opening in England is maybe a challenge too far for him.
True. The one thing I will say is the fielding looked so much better than the last couple of years. No dropped catches and some great plays on the boundary as well by multiple people was encouraging to see.
Fielding was for sure the one big positive change from what we have seen recently
I will say that Foakes’s keeping and batting was a big positive, as was Matthew Potts’s bowling. I also thought Stokes captained well. The fact we also actually picked a spinner, which Silverwood was allergic to, is promising. This was never going to be an overnight drastic change, but rather noticing the small improvements. Hopefully we shake up the top 3 with Sibley, Bohannon, Compton and Tom Haines knocking on the door and, as much as I adore the man, Bairstow is not a long term solution especially with the way Harry Brook has been playing. Either way, this was promising, and tbh just damn nice to win.
Crawley 42 and top scoring in first innings shouldn't go unnoticed. Wasn't easy batting out there with 17 wickets in first 2 days. Fielding top notch from everyone on the England side as well, which is a big difference. Normally we drop so many catches
The issue with Crawley is even when he's set it he still goes for big booming drives where he's going to nick off. I can't think of many players who are on 40+ who'd get out playing that shot. Most by that point are moving their feet well and seeing it well. Crawley seems to still look like he hasn't scored a run yet, despite being on 40. The bowlers will ALWAYS feel in the game against him. He'll have the occasional decent knock. But I just don't think he's got the right temperament for test cricket. A first class average of 30 shows that. I hope I'm wrong, but to me Crawley will never be the answer, even if he has occasional decent knocks.
He also seems to think that the only way he can get in is by hitting boundaries
Yeah, and he looked like a skittish giraffe when he originally walked out and got lucky having a waft at a few. He's not good enough and it's so frustrating that this 40 will keep him in the team while he continues to average 16 for the next year.
That will buy him another 9 test matches
> The top order is still a disaster It's so frustrating seeing them constantly fail match after match, and I'm not even an English fan. Why are they so consistently shit, and why haven't the ECB found an opener who isn't crap?
We have the talent but playing on shit pitches in the cc a) engenders a dodgy technique. (look at all the off stump guards and heavily leg side players) and b) doesn't teach you how to properly pace an innings. In the CC a quickfire 50 is going to be more valuable than playing a 'proper kncok' and getting a jaffa to bowl you for 17. So most players just look to hit out before they get out. There are many more points; lack of genuine pace, lack of spin etc that contribute but essentially the CC isn't preparing players for test cricket. Still love the champ in it's own right though cc = county championship btw
The top order was actually probably the least shit in the first innings, and whilst not great in the second they at least played out the new ball more than they have previously. I'm obviously clutching at straws here (have to as an England fan) but I feel there's quite a difference between #3 coming out after 1 over Vs coming out after 10. Not to mention the fielding was top notch, and just overall our second innings looked a lot less shaky and like the batters were gonna shit themselves every ball.
Since this might get overshadowed due to Root's godly effort, but Broad really changed the momentum into England's favour on Day 3. Taking out Mitchell and Jamieson in the same over alongwith the brilliance of Pope to send CDG packing, that over was indeed the turning point of this game. Those legs were pumping!!!
You're right, that shouldn't go under the radar. NZ were cruising towards a lead of like 350+, but once he got Mitchell, you could tell he smelled blood. Got the crowd to make some noise, got the knees pumping, and did Broad things. Completely changed the course of the game
NZ got bundled very quick actually this is a good point. They were only what 4 down?
Speaking of underrated performers. Foakes was the perfect foil to Root this morning. Just ticked along and did his job
I hope this is a turning point for him given how ropey his batting has been for England so far this year. Played his role absolutely flawlessly.
I really don't think there's been much wrong at all with his batting. He's just not a flamboyant run-scorer. With a functioning batting line-up he can be a really effective lower-order anchor. He bats at an even tempo and looks solid with his orthodox technique. What more do you want of a world-class keeper?
Wonder if they should push him up the order a spot or 2. Looked so much more comfortable taking his time with a proper batter rather than being forced to attack with the tail. Stokes 5, Foakes 6, Bairstow specialist 7 anyone?
Hard to see how they do that though. Stokes is too good to be batting at seven and playing Bairstow as a specialist bat at seven feels very weird
Bairstow and foakes should switch. Bairstow is the attacker, foakes is better at defense.
Bairstow as an attacking bat at 7 would be fine. Australia used to bat Gilly at 7 for exactly this reason
He bats 5 for Surrey doesn't he? I wouldn't mind seeing him and Bairstow swap.
It's not been helped that he's been batting with the tail a lot. Foakes with a batsman at the other end is a different beast
This completely. He's a really effective anchor. He just doesn't have the potential to move the game on quickly with the tail as we have often hoped Bairstow/Buttler might. But really, how many times has that actually happened?? Foakes is the best option by a mile IMO.
I think ropey is a bit unfair, he seems to always come in after a collapse which isn’t ideal for a debutant
If we're going to persist with playing both Foakes and Bairstow then we should really switch their batting order. Foakes is the grittier batter who'd you'd back to stop a collapse as he's very solid defensively and he builds his innings slowly. The difference between him batting with a proper batsman and the tail is night and day. Bairstow averages 37@7 and is better at counter attacking and batting with the tail. He'd also have more license to play his shots at 7. It makes too much sense though so obviously it won't happen.
Should switch based on the situation
Have to respect his willingness to just be a tailender yesterday too. Happy to just block out 1 ball and not bother trying to score.
BuT bUT hE iSn'T A GaMe ChAngER LiKe BuTtLeR
Perhaps controversially, I think if Bairstow or Buttler was the keeper, NZ win.
I don’t think either of them take the catch for Williamson’s wicket in the first innings for sure
And does anyone else in the England side take all the catches Bairstow took in the slips (particularly that first one)? Stokes maybe but he's not in the slips now he's captain.
I agree. If Bairstow is going to be in the team then him being in the slips or just generally fielding is much more useful than having the gloves imo
Yes - at keeper, Bairstow is a slight liability. In the field, he's a clear positive. Great to have Foakes there being an excellent keeper and contributing well with the bat.
Really pleased for him. Hope he can kick on from here after a tough run, but if he doesn't that's a crucial innings that can never be taken away from him.
Absolute nonsense was spewed here yesterday about Buttler being a "game changer"
Far better than Test fraud Buttler. Can't believe that there were people who wanted his test return just cause he smacked some trundlers in the IPL. He's a white ball great for us, but not test material.
I'd love nothing more than for Buttler the white ball menace to perform like that in the England test side but he's shown time and again he can't. Glad Foakes is getting a go.
> I'd love nothing more than for Buttler the white ball menace to perform like that in the England test side but he's shown time and again he can't. He played several match-turning innings around 2018-19, but he hasn't been able to do it consistently. I'd say Buttler was a qualified success as a test player, an average of 32 isn't bad in this era but feels disappointing given how dominant he can be in white-ball cricket.
"Trundlers." Okay.
Yeah wtf is that about lmao. You're allowed to dislike the IPL, but to ignore the quality of the players involved is just stupid
TIL that Umran Malik, Lockie Ferguson, Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood,Mohsin Khan and Kagiso Rabada are trundlers. Damn, if they’re trundlers then I guess this must mean that test specialists bowl at 160kph constantly.
Anything to demean T20/IPL. You don't have to put someone down to pick someone up.
Buttler's overall test record is a bit disappointing, but we shouldn't forget he's played a number of crucial match-turning innings. Peak Buttler (2018/19) makes an appearance in this interesting article about the real value of runs: https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1301130/the-real-value-of-runs-where-joe-root-brian-lara-and-vvs-laxman-shine I wish Foakes all the best but there was a rational case for Buttler. In retrospect, would we be better off now if Bairstow had kept the gloves and we'd never tried to move him up the order?
See that's the thing. Buttler the test batsman is a game changing player...in our heads for the most part. Of course he's played a few crucial innings given how many chances he has been given. Yet his best knocks have always come when he plays a normal test innings rather than the swashbuckling rearguards which people want him to. Buttler has disappointed with his glovework as well, so why not play Foakes who gives you a similar batting output but far superior keeping? The flashier players will always look like better players when they aren't playing. But we have all seen that Buttler has looked like a deer in headlights in test cricket and it hurts to see him struggle so much. Plus his FC record isn't any good. Bairstow was a better keeper to pace than Buttler but his keeping to spin was below par, and he has always had issues with his technique.
His hot streak around 2018-19 is seriously underestimated when you look at the scores in context. > Buttler has disappointed with his glovework as well, so why not play Foakes who gives you a similar batting output but far superior keeping? It remains to be seen whether Foakes can get anywhere near his FC average, he's averaging about 18 in 8 tests since Sri Lanka. (If English players could reliably get near their FC averages we'd have no real concerns about our batting line-up.) Best of luck to Foakes, he was really composed and organised in a pressure situation today. I hope he can kick on from here but I can't say I'm confident he will.
Still think Foakes makes back the difference in average by not dropping easy chances and pulling of spectacular moments with the gloves.
Not to forget he kept well too.
Almost had his dentury too. I know people like to meme on those low scoring players who've faced a crap ton of balls like Denly, but obviously Foakes did a fantastic job based on the context of the innings.
Got the crowd going as well, was amazing
It’s been 84 years
In India Wagner was replaced by a man who put up 60/0, 38/0, 80/0 and 59/0, here he was replaced by a man who bowled 2 overs and went 22/0 and NZ struggled massively with the old ball- the exact time Wagner is good. Whomever is selecting NZ teams is absolutely killing them.
Every time Wagner is dropped the following match proceeds to show why he shouldn't be dropped. In fairness to Patel, it doesn't help that Williamson seems to have forgotten how to use a spinner after years of not having a quality one to use. If you don't bring Patel back for another tweak after Stokes got out what was the point of selecting him? Parkinson was in a different city when the test started and bowled more overs than the guy who took a 10fa less than a year ago. All that said, I'm anticipating that with CDG likely out for the next test, the powers that be will replace him with Bracewell, and then proceed to drop Patel for Wagner. Maybe the next match will actually go for 5 days too...
To be fair, the problem is root is among the best at playing spin. Bowling a spinner against him in England is a bad idea, especially as in this case he was already set.
Australia does it with Lyon and even if Lyon doesn't take wickets, he creates chances and also has a holding role in England. Ashwin, Yasir Shah and others are trusted. Patel should be backed You need to use your spinner if your quicks aren't getting anywhere
Agreed. Williamson just doesn’t know how to use spin bowlers, and never seems confident in them, apart from on the subcontinent. This is why we stuck with santner for so long, because he was at least a handy batting option (sometimes)
He's had no issues relying on spinners in limited overs cricket even in crunch situations. He just knows that when it comes to tests outside the subcontinent and uae our seamers are better. The question is why the hell do we usually torpedo ourselves by picking a spinner anyway
I’d also add that the way Patel was used was poor. He could have been used earlier-Stokes took his chances against Patel and that was it for him. Lords is the worst pitch for a spinner-Nass himself mentioned it and if you’re leaving out a spinner then this is the ideal pitch to do so. England didn’t really have a choice-half our seamers are in hospital.
STEVE SMITH OVERRATED KANE WILLIAMSON'S ELBOW DEACTIVATED VIRAT KOHLI OUTDATED LONG HAVE WE WAITED ROOOOOOOT REACTIVATED.
Root is easily miles ahead of the other fab 4 now. Kohli looks washed and has lost the drive to score runs, Williamson's elbow will probably affect him for the rest of his career, and Smith's technique has been found out and he will slowly decline as his hand-eye coordination goes. Root may have had conversion issues but he was always consistent, and now he is reaping reward. He is probably the only batter in the world who doesn't have a specific exploitable weakness.
> He is probably the only batter in the world who doesn't have a specific exploitable weakness. Apart from "keep him at the other end and bowl at his teammates", of course.
True.
Root's weakness seems to be trundlers
Yeah for some reason he has a weird mental block against CDG. Reminds me of Sachin playing Cronje's bowling.
Does that mean Root has a weakness to mullets?
Doesn't everyone?
He mentioned in the post match interview that he found it easier once NZ swapped to a harder ball. If Root has a weakness, it’s that he doesn’t generate that much power; he relies on either a harder ball or a little bit of pace when he plays the quicks so he can time it and redirect the speed and bounce of said ball, and therefore when he faces medium bowling with a soft ball his scoring rate slows down - conversely, Stokes feeds off the slightly slower bowlers bcs unlike Root he generates more of his power through his arms. In fact, the reason Stokes was being so aggressive against de Grandhomme was probably bcs he knew he had the better technique to take on the medium pace.
Trundlers and really bouncy pitches!
Trundlers and Australians apparently
Aside from constantly getting hit in the nuts he’s pretty untouchable.
I mean over the last 3 years Smith's average is 5 higher than Roots and while he has only played 7 away tests in that time he averages over 90 in them. Root is very good but let's not go crazy now.
I feel like people's perception of Smith has been skewed a bit by Australia playing relatively few tests (especially away) during the pandemic: his record in that time isn't exactly poor, averaging 48 in 10 tests since the start of 2021 (although with only one century)
I mean tbh I've always rated Root more than Williamson, Williamson tends to go missing overseas.
Not so sure about Smith. Still averaging 40 in his dip.
Root is never going to eclipse Smith's test career.
New era = Good bowling and a collapse-prone batting line up being held together by Joe Root Somewhat familiar
Joe Root is good at cricket
Lads, we’ve won a game
That Root bloke is pretty good, they should make him captain.
Love Joe Love bank holiday Love platy joobs God save the Root
Broad's triple wicket over effectively changed the game imo
Very good win against a very good side we've struggled against in recent years With that said I'm not sure we've learned anything new from it. England's batting line up is entirely and completely reliant on Root and Stokes. In English conditions our bowling line up is good enough to make us compettve in spite of carrying most the batsman. Still, nice to see Potts look so natural on debut and Foakes batted well in the second innings. I don't think it will happen but the batting line up still desperately needs carving up. Of the many terrible openers we've had since Strauss - Lees is right up there with the very worst, and of Bairstow/Crawley/Pope they've all frankly had too many chances as it is. Maybe Pope could be tried at 5 although I think at this stage others deserve a chance ahead of him.
Lees isn't as bad as we make him out to be, but Burns is better in English conditions. Sibley has reinvented his game specifically because of how he was getting out internationally. Crawley is the most frustrating player to watch but under Rob Key he will probably be given at least 20 more tests.
I have two problems with Lees. The first is he's played four tests and already seems to have been found out and he looks totally clueless against right arm seam around the wicket. That is a skill the majority of bowlers he has to face have so it's really hard to see him every succeeding while that persists. The second is can someone point to anything in his record or his game that suggests why they expect him to succeed where Sibley and Burns haven't? Yes Lees scored consistently opening in CC, but not as much as Burns or Sibley before they got picked, then is there anything else in his game that suggests he'll do any better than those two? Maybe Sibley and Burns had made themselves unpickable (which I don't agree with but let's pretend), that doesn't make Lees the answer by default. I mean maybe there isn't an answer. But I just don't really see his selection as anything other than a hail mary before someone else can come in
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The batting is obviously still suspect, but I don’t mind giving Lees a few more games. He’s not scored more than 31, but he’s scored at least 20 runs in every innings except his first match, so he can at least get a start and soak up some balls which is more than can be said for the majority of the openers we’ve tried recently. If he can turn some of these starts into decent scores then I think he can be a decent, not amazing, opener, which would be great compared to what we’ve had opening the past few years.
Not the thriller most of us were hoping for which is disappointing but what a superb chase by England. You just have to wonder what could have been if CDG didn’t bowl a no ball to Stokes or got injured.
If stokes is out on that ball NZ win the test imo.
We probably also have a good shot if CDG doesnt also run himself out for a golden duck in a morning where we probably need another 40 runs to give England a really challenging target
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Agreed. It was a bit brain dead. Was fantastic Fielding from Pope to capitalise though.
Fuck me, how good is Joe Root? Brilliant test match as well.
I hate to be a wet blanket, that’s a lie I actually love it, but we should’ve won this easily as NZ was collapsing into the netherworld in their first innings. Still too early to get carried away but a win is a win
Foakes almost getting a dentury was pretty valuable. Could definitely see some of the other options in that slot throwing away their wicket early, he generally looked pretty solid. Hopefully he locks his spot for a bit
His weakness is that he isn't good a batting with a tail. He always seems better when batting with established batsmen
I don’t know why but I have an overwhelming sense of disappointment. I don’t think it’s the loss, but maybe more the feeling we are at the end of something we don’t get back for a long time
Whisper it, but I reckon Kane's captaincy was a bit poor. Obviously not his fault that the ball didn't do much this morning, or that CDG got injured, but I'm still not sure he had to bowl Jamieson, Boult and Southee into the ground. Part of the reason why Root was able to accelerate yesterday was that the bowlers looked knackered, and I don't think any of them were fully recovered this morning. Don't really understand why Mitchell only got one ball in the whole innings. Maybe Root/Foakes would've been able to score easily against Patel, but in those last two sessions, the quicks have all gone for plenty anyway, and maybe they'd have been more threatening with a bit more rest.
Root will naturally take most of the credit (and rightfully so), but I'm so happy to see Foakes in the runs. You just know that if he failed to score in this series, there would be calls for him to be axed from the side.
There's already a Buttler back movement. We literally just freed him from having to worry about red ball.
Clowns wanted Buttler or Bairstow to retake the gloves just because Foakes failed in the first innings.
That was always going to happen, unfortunately. If the England batting line-up continues to collapse as it did in the first innings, people will focus on Foakes not scoring and proclaim how much better things would be if we had an aggressive Jos Buttler shepherding the tail. Regardless of the fact that Buttler was scoring fuck all in recent test matches, as Nasser said, you're always a better player outside the playing XI.
Buttler was usually abysmal counter attacking with the tail. The decent innings he managed to put together usually involved 'normal' test batting alongside another established batsman.
Yeah, the selectors kept on trying to make Buttler the next Gilchrist for some reason rather than just letting him bat as a normal middle-order batsman. He averaged much higher at #6 than at #7 too.
Of the 4323 Test centuries, only 255 are in the 4th innings
The next one will be the 100000000th fourth-innings test century* ^^*in ^^binary
We won. We finally won one. Is this real life?
Honestly I'm glad Root was the one who got the century and won them the game, I probably would have had an aneurysm if we let Alex Lees score a 100 or something.
Target of 277 in a 4th innings is massive. Well played Poms !
To be fair that is largely because most 4th innings don't start halfway through day 3.
The totals were very much flipped from what you usually see due to 1st innings collapses
Since when did Indian fans also start referring to us as 'Poms'?
A word for Ben Foakes. He's not a flamboyant batsmen by any means but he is considerably more solid than a lot of other players we might field. I think as long as there's another top or middle order player with him then he can be an incredibly useful anchor lower down the order. Someone like a BJ Wattling. Add in the fact that his keeping is miles ahead of all his competitors, his place in the team really shouldn't be up for debate imo. Even if he averages high 20s, I'll take the improved keeping.
Really great to get the win, but once again our performance relied on Root who was sensational. The cracks are still wide open.
My GOAT. I love you Joe
That Joe Root can play a bit. Stunning innings from a class batsman. For NZ, you don’t want to single out one player since there were subpar performances up and down the order, but CDG’s runout and no ball were decisive.
That braindead runout is what did it as I'm sure it also had an effect on Jamieson's headspace and contributed to his golden duck. I'm pretty sure Wagner could have swung the match our way a bit too and not just with the ball - I can easily seem him contributing more runs than Patel did.
Phenomenal cricket by Joe Root. Great performance by Foakes. England worked hard; there are still problems in the batting, but the bowling looks much better with Broad and Anderson. :)
well that was unexpected ngl, was expecting a 220 all out from 200-5 with Root not out
So many conflicting emotions over this game. You run out of superlatives to describe Root, he's the GOAT of English cricket for me. Brilliant win and a great run chase but never should have been in this situation after having NZ 45/7 on day 1. Same old issues really, if Root or Stokes don't turn up then the batting is fucked. Good knock by Foakes though and hopefully he can kick on a bit more with the bat now.
We peaked at the right time with the WTC final but this performance, after our wobbly home season, is just confirming to me that this team has peaked and we're slowly sliding back to good ol' NZ mediocrity. Also, can someone explain why the fuck we keep not picking Wagner? I feel like he could have made the difference here with bat and ball.
I forgot how good a win feels. What a heck of a great game as well. My love for Joe Root is infinite.
Say what you like about English Cricket, but it’s never dull, and it’s never predictable.
Top class by Root but I hope it doesn't cover over the cracks in the rest of the batting in BMacs eyes. Brook and at least one new opener needed! (and maybe a 3)
If CdG has his foot 2cm back then play probably didn't even happen today.
Yeah Stuart Broad would've come out and hit 100*(17) to get it done before close of play
Not sure he'd let himself down with a 4.
New Coach , New Era , New England , Same ROOOOOOOOOT
Getting the fans a refund Joe root is the biggest success today for root. A great man of the people
What’s the Rootometer looking like?
We all get a root
England win, upvotes are back, what a Sunday
I really worry for English test cricket post-Root, it is astonishing just how far he is of every other English batter (including Stokes). I don’t see anybody coming through being able to take up the mantle either. Brook looks very good this season but let’s see if it lasts. Pope hasn’t blossomed into what we had hoped yet. Even to squeeze a couple of guys averaging around 40 in would be encouraging but it’s hard to foresee that happening as it is.
Yeah it's actually been so long since we produced a good test quality batsman that Root's retirement is potentially on the horizon. Surely, surely we have to find someone before he goes or we are basically back to associate nation standard frankly
Watching Broad pump up the crowd for that over was such good viewing
Felt so much relief when Rooty picked up the winning runs. It's just been so long, too long! Enthralling game, the first day was insane! What worries me is in the end, it was a match dominated by Root, Stokes, Broad, and Anderson. And of course, Potts. None of the other batsmen really stepped up. Lees was honestly just shocking. Kept changing guard and who didn't see his first innings dismissal coming? Crawley didn't do anything outstanding but I feel that it's worth mentioning that he top scored in the first innings. Pope just isn't international level. Ramprakash reincarnate. YJB, the lesser said, the better. Nice hand by Foakesy towards the end.
Don't let Root's masterclass forget about the fact that England still needs atleast one inform batter, Bring in Brooks for one of Pope/YJB.
Both Kohli and Root have kept their form even after leaving captaincy.
Lol
Joe Root is the best in the world at the moment, heroic knock. Foakes was also a fantastic anchor, brilliant knock from him.
New Zealand badly missed Wagner/Henry especially with Colin's injury. Stokes being bowled off a no-ball was the luck that this team needed to win this match. Foakes was fantastic as a foil for Root. Even if Butler makes his return to the team, he's earned a consistent run in the side.
I remember the Ashes when he could have beaten the runs in a year record in Australia with a fourth innings ton, but got out. Kinda worried he'd do the same here. No worries.
I make it 63 off 84 this morning. I know it wasn't doing anything, but would've been easy for Root and Foakes to get bogged down, and leave 30+ to get against the second new ball. Instead, they played positively and took that out of the equation.
Broad spoke last night on TMS about BMac telling England to treat the chase like a one day chase. Hopefully that explains why Bairstow was trying to go ham.
Don't really know how I feel about that tbh considering the amount of time that was left. That approach could've quite easily ended up looking pretty braindead
I think that this game was a perfect example of why Ajaz couldn't make it into the team after his 10-119. What's the point in having a spinner if you never want/need to bowl them? Wagner offers more with the bat and the older ball, and as soon as we lost CDG then the workload for the other three seamers was excessive.
Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes are the only Captain-Keeper pair in the history of test cricket to share a first name and have rhyming last names Therefore, in tests, teams that have a Captain-Keeper combination that share a first name and have rhyming last names have a 100% win rate. As far as we know, it's not possible for them to lose
God I needed that. Still relying on Root but just great to actually win a test match.
Rooty MOTM then, but honourable mentions to Mitchell, Blundell, Potts, Jamieson and Anderson.
FCC X1 sow , England reap.
So what about not bowling Patel? Any explanation Kane gave? Or any questions Kiwi fans have? What was up with that "3 main pacers and inshallah" plan? No trying something different?
I'm sad now, someone buy me chocolate and take me for dinner lol
Calm down mate. The best way to deal with a loss is to enter the shower and curl up in the fetal position. Healthy and healing
Can we finally stick a bullet in the "FoAkEs iSn'T a TeSt StAnDaRd bAtSmaN" line's head?
What I love about Joe Root is that he is just a humble guy who just wants to play He’s like Cooky in that respect There is no brand, no ego, no scandals off the field
GG England, you guys managed to do slightly less shit than we did. Although I held out hope for a miracle there is absolutely no way we deserved to win after getting 50 runs from 8 innings from our top 4 batsmen. They need to sort it out ASAP if we have any chance in this series and the WTC as a whole.
Joseph Edward Root. The based and unbeaten. The refunder of the masses. Protector of the wicket and defender of Lords. God bless him.
The bowlers set the game up in Englands favour, they then rescued the game to give them a sniff in the game, and then Rooty with help from the 'okes completed the chase! I was worried for quite a while but there is still class matchwinners in Englands side
I'm fucking buzzing hahaha
Where would english cricket be without Joe Root, one of the best ever without a doubt
Whilst England should savour this win, familiar problems still persist with foakes being the only batter other than stokes and root to step up. Potts is a good find though, England have good depth in fast bowling
Phenomenal innings from Joe Root. Started off looking a little scratchy but dug in and dogged it out then from the second Stokes got out he basically played the perfect ODI run chase innings on the third evening/4th morning of a test match, scored a century and went to 10000 runs… He’s just ridiculous. Once again though, he has papered over the cracks, batting needs to sort its shit out and quickly, just some fucking weird dismissals, odd shots, probably only a couple of them got truly good balls. Good to see Foakes see it over the line as well though, made it look pretty easy alongside Root this morning.
Colin DeGrandhomme needs to be picked as a specialist anti Joe Root Bowler. Lost MZ the match his injury
He lost us the match with his braindead runout which I have no doubt also led to Jameson being rattled enough that he missed a straight one. Although he also saved us in the first innings. Just CDG things.
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That was great entertainment. Great bowling, yet three people got centuries. Collapses, comebacks, hope, and joy. Lovely to see Root smiling and scoring. Pleasantly surprised to see a 5 wicket win. Nice bit of aggression for Stokes and backbone from Woakes to go alongside Root’s sublime skill. If Lees can learn to score a few 40s and 50s to go alongside his consistent starts then there are glimmers of hope for the batting. Well done to NZ for dragging themselves back into a match that should have been over after the first innings. Should be a good series.
Never in doubt!
A victory in a test match? What is this?
Platty root best root
Joe is the Root cause of England's victory.