Having not won a Test series for more than a year, England registered a clean sweep over New Zealand in a three-match series at home under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum owing to some outstanding performances. This wasn’t any other series win, it was a statement from Stokes & his men to the entire world chasing down 275+ totals in each of the three matches.
Chasing 296 runs to win at Headingley in the third Test, England suffered early losses as the openers went back to the pavilion. However, Trent Bridge’s hero Ollie Pope and Joe Root stitched a 134-run partnership to stage their side’s comeback into the game. The hosts were now in charge of the game and even though they lost Pope early on Day 5 after the rain delay, Jonny Bairstow again came out all guns blazing for the third time in as many innings.
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Jonny Bairstow smashed a 30-ball fifty while Root was making the most of his batting form as the duo took England to a 7-wicket victory with rather ease scoring 113 runs in 15 overs on the final day. As Root and Bairstow were celebrating the win while sharing the pleasantries with the Kiwi players after the win, Joe Root was quick to run towards the stumps, uproot one and hand it over to Daryl Mitchell to acknowledge his contribution to the series.
Here is the video of the gesture from Joe Root:
Root making sure Mitchell gets a stump 🥰#ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/T1vdflbhgp
— England's Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) June 27, 2022
Daryl Mitchell probably was the best batter on show, in the series from both the teams. He smashed a century in each of the three Tests and amassed as many as 538 runs at 107.6 and was also named New Zealand’s player of the series. Root’s heartwarming gesture won the fans’ hearts.
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England moved to 7th place in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table and even though their chances of qualification for the final look bleak, the performances in the series against New Zealand, carry a promise for what’s to come from them and it makes the upcoming Test match against India exciting.
