England suffered a humiliating innings and 12-run defeat in the first Test against South Africa at Lord's on Friday (August 19).
It was England's first loss in the longest format under the new leadership duo of skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum after a run of four consecutive victories.
The hosts might have been outplayed at Lord’s but Stokes is not too concerned as he called it an "off-game" for his side.
"It was an off-game for us, and that's absolutely fine," said Stokes after the match. "It's not something I'm going to be throwing our toys out of the pram over."
England’s batting line-up failed to live up to the expectations in the Test series opener as they lost the game inside three days.
While the home team was bowled out for 165 in the first innings, they collapsed to 149 all-out in the second essay. On the other hand, the Proteas posted 326 in the only innings they batted.
Stokes, however, said it was important England did not over-react.
"The message from me and Baz (McCullum) upstairs will be, did we commit to everything the way we committed to the first four Tests of the summer?
"If everyone can say 'yes, 100 per cent, we just didn't execute' then things are good. We'll move on to the next Test match, and go out there and try to win," the all-rounder remarked.
England’s new era in Test cricket under Stokes and McCullum took the cricketing world by storm in the last two months. They first whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 and then thrashed India by 7 wickets to win the rescheduled Test that was postponed last year due to Covid-19.
In all four matches, England displayed a staggering performance and pulled off incredible chases, including their highest when they chased 378 runs against India.
As a result, England’s aggressive approach, termed as ‘Bazball’, became a topic of discussion across the globe.
The second Test between England and South Africa is due to be played at Old Trafford from August 25.
(With AFP inputs)
