Stokes and McCullum Take Off in Style (Eng vs Nz first test 2022)

En route to the WTC final, England lost to India to fail to progress to the final. However, since then, it has not been practically what a member of the three giants should be. They have lost the spark, the resilience, and the ability to put in the extra effort to get to the right side of the finish line. All of this and the loss of the Ashes Cup, there was a change in the coach-captain roles and the rest, as they say, is history.

Although the same mistakes were repeated by the older fellows, the newbies and Root, of course, pulled it off and showed why a blank canvas was demanded by Stokes instead of a reset. Both the teams provided an exciting clash but let us see what each player has, to take back.

Not the Best of Starts for New Zealand

It is not a good omen if your openers score a total of 17 runs in both innings combined, a fate NZ had to suffer. All 4 dismissals came behind the wicket, disallowing any of them from being exempted from the misjudgment category. That all the dismissals were to pacers, reveals how the Kiwis have struggled to home conditions in the early stage of the innings. With two good catches in the first innings, YJB grabbed the eyeballs instead of the failure that the NZ top order showed. Reeling at 12/4 in the first, comeback was difficult and that never happened. Wickets fell apart in sequence before they were bundled out for 132. 

New Era but the Old Ways

At 59/0, the Englishmen were seriously seeking revenge but all that anticipation was crushed when they were left at 100/6. Zak Crawley top-scored with a quick 43 but that did not help the team. Eventually, the resilient 77 balls 25 from Alex Lees came to an end when the 4th wicket fell. The experiment of playing Pope ahead of Root at no.3 did not work as he could get only to a hard-earned 27 ball 7. They were also bowled out for 141 with a not-so-healthy lead of 9 runs, owing to the useful contributions chipped in, by the tailenders. Tim Southee was lethal grabbing 4 wickets and creating more chances but the real miser was Boult giving away just over 1.5 an over; taking 3 wickets at the same time. 

Another Top Order Collapse before the Rescue

And again, it was a nightmare for New Zealand at 56/4 before Mitchell and Blundell came to the rescue. Battling it out against the high-on-confidence English seamers, the duo scored over 190 runs for the 5th wicket when Mitchell edged it behind the stumps and Broad went up in his celebrappeal. Moreover, New Zealand stretched their innings to 285 with the aid of Mitchell's ton and heartbreak for Blundell at 96. Tim Southee extended a helping hand to batting with a quickfire 21 off 26. The partnership between Blundell and Mitchell was, by far, one of the most perfectly timed partnerships in the near history. Both had a lot to prove and did so in their own ways, thus, being given more chances to prove the reason behind their selection. 

The Golden Era Begins

Joe Root marked the beginning of the golden era regaining his long lost form. With the first century not as captain since 2016, he has paid it back to Stokes. Although the top 3 failed again to deliver, Root stood one end up with Foakes who also was at his best complementing Root in his stay at the crease. Not to mention the good display behind teh stumps, Foakes threatened to take away the honour of the century from Joe Root but that did not happen. There was no noise about the collapse of the English line up, hidden by a Root masterclass. All in all, Joe Root and Ben Foakes saved the day for England.

...And, another exciting clash starts on 10th of June with the two teams clashing again.