New Zealand bowling coach Shane Jurgensen on Friday (June 4) said it was really thrilling to watch the “great battle” between England captain Joe Root and Kiwi all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme after the latter give the batsman a tough time in the ongoing Test match at Lord’s.
After New Zealand finished its first innings at 378 in the ongoing first Test of the two-match Test series at Lord's Cricket Ground, England’s top-order failed to live up to the expectations, as Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee sent back No.2 Dom Sibley and No.3 Zak Crawley for 0 and 2 respectively.
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However, the England opener Rory Burns managed to overpower New Zealand’s bowling attack, as he cracked his fifty (59* off 134 balls), and Root also showed his class (42* off 112 runs) as the two added 93 runs for the 3rd wicket to take the tally to 111/2 at close of play on day 2 of the first Test at Lord’s.
During his stay on Day 2, Root was struck on the hand by Colin de Grandhomme at the Lord's Cricket Ground and Jurgensen hailed the Kiwi seamer, saying the England skipper is a “fantastic player and a very good captain”, but Colin is certainly a challenge for him.
The bowling coach said he “loved” watching De Grandhomme bowl to Root from the Lord's balcony, as the seamer dominated the England skipper on Day 2 of the ongoing Test match.
As reported by stuff.co.nz, Jurgensen said: “Colin certainly presents a challenge for Joe. Joe's such a fantastic player ... a very good captain, and it's a great battle, and me personally, I love watching it from up on the balcony.”
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He concluded, “On the speed radar you may see 115-125 kilometres per hour, but as you see when he hits the cricket ball, and he hits it a long way, he's extremely strong, so he does bowl a heavy ball and I think that's what you say yesterday, he had the ball either jumping up or down and was getting some movement.”
Noteworthy, rain played spoilsport on the third day of the ongoing first Test as play was first delayed and then eventually abandoned due to rain with England trailing by 267 runs.
