England and New Zealand are locking horns with each other in the opening game of the 2-match series at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. The Kiwis won the toss and opted to bowl with the Pink Ball, and they handed test debuts to Scott Kuggeleijn and Blair Tickner. England suffered the early dismissal of Zak Crawley as Tim Southee got the better of him.
However, the duo of Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope made a partnership of 99 runs for the 2nd wicket and stabilized the innings. Blair Tickner got the prized wicket of Ben Duckett which was also his maiden wicket in Test cricket. Joe Root came on to bat after Duckett’s dismissal, and he was looking to score runs.
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Under the coaching of Brendon McCullum, the English team has been playing an aggressive brand of cricket, and they are looking to continue doing the same in this match as well. After a decent 2nd wicket partnership, England’s innings got a little shakey start, and they lost their 4th wicket at 154 runs.
Joe Root has played the reverse scoop in Test cricket quite often in the last few years, and he again played that shot in the opening Test against New Zealand. Neil Wagner was bowling the 24th over of the match, and he was bowling over the wicket to Root. The ball was going away outside off due to the angle, and Joe Root was at it.
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Joe Root used the angle perfectly and beautifully executed the scoop to hit a boundary over the slips. Former England’s captain has been quite aggressive in his approach in Test cricket but perished while playing the same shot as well. Wagner came in to bowl the 28th over, and he got successful in dismissing Root.
Here is the video of the shot from Joe Root:
Joe Root you cannot do that 👀
This is world class from the former England captain 🌏#NZvENG pic.twitter.com/2tyQJK60SO
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) February 16, 2023
On the 2nd ball of the over, Neil Wagner again bowled a delivery outside off, and he anticipated that Joe Root will play the shot again. Root did exactly the same, but he failed to connect it well. It took Root’s under the edge and Daryl Mitchell took a brilliant catch at the slips.
