England owe it all to special one Root
Joe joins 10,000 club as he steers side to stunning win
Even by Joe Root’s exceptional standards this was special. A century at Lord’s to win a compelling, wildly fluctuating first Test and provide the perfect start for the great friend who has just replaced him as england captain.
Root made it look easy, too, rushing england home yesterday without further loss so rapidly that those at the ground privileged to watch one of the very best of his 26 Test hundreds and his first in the fourth innings were given a full refund.
How perfect it was that the 100th run of Root’s unbeaten 115 was also his 10,000th in Test cricket, enabling him to join an elite group at exactly the same age, to the day, that Sir Alastair Cook became the first englishman to reach that fabled figure.
And how important this was for the new regime of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. They were staring down the barrel of a losing start at the end of the second day before firstly Stuart Broad and then Root provided a final twist to this short but epic story.
It is impossible to over-play the significance of what Root did at the start of this new and potentially highly productive chapter of his career back in the england ranks.
When we last saw him, this truly great batsman and thoroughly decent man was in denial in Grenada, still trying to hang on to the captaincy he admitted yesterday had consumed him despite all the evidence telling him his race was run.
Whether common sense prevailed when he got home from another beaten series in the Caribbean or he jumped before he knew he would be pushed by new managing director Rob Key, Root did the right thing in standing down and paving the way for Stokes.
It can be difficult for a former captain to carry on under new management but it was never going to be an issue with Root, not when he is such a selfless character and not when he is so close to the man who was always there for him in Stokes.
When Key took over from Ashley Giles he planned on leaving Root alone for a while to spend time with his family after resigning but the former captain was soon on the phone asking what was expected of him and what he could do to help the new captain and coach.
It was the measure of a man whose last two years at the helm were blighted by the demands placed on the england team by the pandemic, but who has never stopped being the most important batter in the england Test side.
Root was as important as ever here when yet another top-order collapse left england at 69 for four in their pursuit of 277 and seemingly out of contention again in a Test they should have commanded after reducing new Zealand to 45 for seven on the first day.
Firstly he gave england a chance of only their second win in 18 Tests and their first against new Zealand since 2015 in company with Stokes on Saturday.
Then he was joined by Ben
Foakes in the unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership that hurried england to victory.
How important this was for Foakes, too. It may be harsh to think of him under pressure for his place so soon into his latest run as england’s keeper-batsman, but two of his predecessors — Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler — are very much back in the frame for the role.
Foakes’s glovework has been immaculate in this Test at a venue where the wobbling ball can often unsettle keepers, but his most significant contribution of the match came with the bat as he stopped new Zealand getting at england’s vulnerable tail.
He only made 32 of the 120 he put on with Root, but with debutant Matthew Potts due in next on a pair and england’s tail weakened further by the introduction of Matt Parkinson as a concussion substitute for Jack Leach, another wicket could have brought disaster.
new Zealand never came close to taking it, with the ball they had changed on Saturday evening refusing to swing or seam and despite the fact that the floodlights were shining down on what appeared to be perfect gloomy bowling conditions.
But their lack of potency was mainly down to the excellence of Root, who received a warm ovation from the Lord’s crowd when he batted in the first innings and whose every run was then cheered in the race to the winning post.
Root pointed to the england dressing room and Stokes when he reached three figures and punched the air in jubilation.
He then embraced Foakes after england had made the 61 they still needed for victory in just 13.5 overs of the fourth day.
And the biggest cheer of all came when it was confirmed that the speed of england’s victory meant that the crowd got their money back under the Lord’s refund policy.
When the dust settles england will know many of the problems they came into this match with are still there, not least the question marks over their top three.
But there has been a purpose to their cricket here, demonstrated by an outstanding display in the field. every catch was taken, throws regularly hit the stumps and Ollie Pope’s run out of Colin de Grandhomme proved vital to the successful outcome.
World champions new Zealand may have been caught cold here and should be better in the second of three Tests starting at Trent Bridge on Friday.
But last night england could justifiably feel their revival might just have begun thanks in the main to the man born again after being brought down by the misery of the last couple of years.