Time for us all to buckle up and get ready for the ride - Brendon McCullum
England have made a brilliant start to a jam-packed summer of cricket, beating world Test Champions New Zealand in the first Test Match of the Summer at Lord’s.
After a frenetic first day which saw 17 wickets tumble and included four wicket hauls for both James Anderson and newcomer Matty Potts, New Zealand came roaring back in their second innings with Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell scored 108 and 96 respectively to regain control for the Black Caps.
With a target of 276, England’s batsmen went to work, and it was former captain Joe Root that once again steered his team to victory with yet another imperious batting display. Root’s 115* knock combined with a solid 54 from Ben Stokes, helped secure England’s first victory against New Zealand in Test Matches since 2015 and gave Stokes and Brendon McCullum a maiden victory as captain and coach respectively.
Not only did Root help his team to victory but he also reached a significant personal milestone, becoming only the 2nd Englishman after Alistair Cook to reach 10,000 Test runs. In doing so, Root becomes the 14th player in history to reach this landmark, with many commentators including Australian legend Mark Taylor tipping Root to surpass the great Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 15,921 runs.
England are now 1-0 up in a vital series and the summer has got off to the perfect start! New managing director Rob Key, new coach Brendon McCullum and new captain Ben Stokes could not have wished for a better beginning to a new regime in English cricket, and we certainly can’t wait to see how England perform over the next few months.
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