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Joe Root…. as England raced to victory in the third and final test against New Zealand at Headingley.
Third Test, Day 5, Headingley: New Zealand 329 and 326 (T Blundell 88 not out, T Latham 76, D Mitchell 56, K Williamson 48; J Leach 5-66, M Potts 3-66) lost to England 360 and 296-3 (J Root 86 not out, O Pope 82, J Bairstow 71 not out) by seven wickets.
Last year around this time, the Black Caps were still enjoying the accolades handed out to the World Test Champion.
Now their title defense – hanging by the thinnest thread ahead of their arrival in England – is in tatters after a 3-0 series defeat to England.
New Zealand lost the third and final Test of the series to the hosts at Headingley overnight (NZ time) by seven wickets.
SPARK SPORT
New Zealand seem incapable of stopping Enland from charging a 3-0 series win.
Summing up at 183-2, needing another 113 for the win, England continued aggressively, previously taking the win in the other two tests as Jonny Bairstow (71 not from just 44 balls) and Joe Root (an unbeaten 86 out of 125 deliveries) continue their excellent form.
The defeat was New Zealand’s sixth in nine tests since winning their World Test Championship final over India in Southampton.
And while title holders Ross Taylor and BJ Watlng have retired since that win, few would have expected such a sharp drop in results since – especially with Daryl Mitchelll and Tom Blundell excelling in this series as replacements for the absent veterans.
The side coached by Gary Stead could argue that the series score didn’t reflect close proximity to the game – virtually nothing separated the two teams at the end of each first innings and New Zealand looked like establishing a potential winning position three times in their say second
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New Zealand’s Tim Southee took the wicket of England’s Ollie Pope early on day five.
But they were then outplayed each time by a host encouraged by changes in their hierarchy following a horror run of results over the past year – including the appointment of former Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum as their test coach.
England chased what would normally be three goals, with relative ease after a shaky start.
New Zealand won’t play their next test until the end of the year when they travel to Pakistan, but don’t expect reactionary or large-scale changes for that series of two tests or the home tests against Sri Lanka and England at home next summer.
Stead will remain in charge until next year’s one-day World Cup and while captain Kane Williamson has suffered an injury for the past six months, he is unlikely to relinquish or remove test side leadership.
New Zealand brought their best players to England. but there were legitimate questions about the selection of teams for all three tests, with left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel only playing the first test and bowling two overs before being thrown out, while fast bowler and noted partnership breaker Neil Wagner was only used for the last test.
Tim Southee knocked out Ollie Pope for 82 in the first over of the day after a 90-minute rain delay with an excellent delivery to give the visitors hope of a consolation win, but four limits from the next over from Trent Boult quickly left England canter to their third win at the trot.
Bairstow’s half-century from 30 balls was the second fastest in England testing history as the hosts needed just 15.2 overs on day five to close the deal.