England captain Joe Root has defended the hosts’ approach on the final day of the first Test against New Zealand after the game was ended in a draw on Sunday (June 6) at Lord's Cricket Ground.
England needed 273 runs off 75 overs to win the opening Test on the final day after New Zealand declared their innings at 169/6 after their mammoth total of 378 in their first innings at Lord’s.
However, Root (40), Dom Sibley (60* off 207 balls) and Ollie Pope (20* off 41 balls) managed to keep England throughout the final two sessions of the game, but the time ran out as there were five over left to bowl with the hosts still needed 100 runs from their target against New Zealand.
After England walked away with a draw at Lord's in the first Test against New Zealand, Root has defended England's approach while insisted it was hard to score over three runs per over on an “absolute best” wicket, providing uneven bounce and against an excellent seam bowling attack.
He also admitted that there wasn't a “realistic” opportunity for England to chase the total and win the game on the final day against New Zealand at Lord’s, saying it is better to learn a lesson from this game to be a bit more disciplined as a batting group in the final Test on June 10.
As reported by ESPNcricinfo, Root said: “Having played on that wicket for a few days, we knew it wasn't going to be as straightforward as it looked. If you look at the run rate throughout the game, it was hard to score above three an over even when the pitch was at its absolute best.”
The skipper further added, “We wanted to lay ourselves a foundation but, once we got through the initial phase, it just didn't feel like there was a realistic opportunity for us to win the game.
So, it was about using it as an opportunity to be a bit more disciplined as a batting group. At times in the first innings, we showed a little bit of ill-discipline. This was a chance to put that right and take a bit of confidence going into the rest of the series.”
With the first Test ended in a draw, Root is very confident that England has a great chance to win the two-match Test series against New Zealand at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham.
He signed off by saying, “The last two times we've played in New Zealand we've been hammered in the first game and pretty much out the series. But going to Edgbaston, this series is very much alive. We've got a chance to win it and we can take confidence from some very good individual performances in this game.”
(With ESPNcricinfo Inputs)
