England skipper Ben Stokes hails 10k man Joe Root, debutant Matthew Potts after win vs New Zealand

Ben Stokes won his first Test as England skipper on Sunday. Riding on Joe Root’s 26th red-ball century, the hosts managed to beat New Zealand by five wickets at the Lord’s Stadium, London. 

The Stokes-McCullum era started off with a much-needed win for England. The Three Lions had won only one of their last 17 Tests ahead of the three-match series vs the Kiwis. They had lost the Ashes 4-0 and faced a 1-0 defeat in the Caribbean. With a new skipper and coach, the English Test side dominated most of the first Test. They lead the series 1-0. 

Also read: Where New Zealand lost the first Test vs England

Root was on fire. The former England skipper went on to score 115 runs in 170 balls. The 31-year-old stitched an unbeaten 120-run stand with wicket-keeper Ben Foakes after the team was down at 69/4. They chased the 277-run target under 80 overs. 

England started Day 4 with 61 runs to win and five wickets in hand. They did not give Kane Williamson’s men a sniff in the first session as they chased the target with ease. Joe Root became the 14th batter overall and the second from England to reach the 10000-run landmark in Tests. At 31 years and 157 days, he is the joint fastest to the feat along with retired England captain Alastair Cook. 

Also read: Joe Root matches Alistair Cook: Youngest to get 10k Test runs

Talking about Root and debutant Matthew Potts, who took seven wickets in the game, in the post-match presentation, Stokes said, “To score 10000 runs and a century in the fourth innings, what a player and what a man. He (Potts) took a wicket almost every time he came on, he’s got amazing attitude about the game and it is very exciting to see such a good start.”

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“Hopefully it will continue. We know it’s not gonna happen overnight, it will take time but its about those little things. The way Lees and Bairstow played, even for a brief period, that’s the kind of attitude we want. Broad and Anderson were really good, inspiring us to do many great things,” he added.