It was one of the most gripping contests between England and New Zealand, and the former played some gutsy cricket to emerge victorious at the Lord’s.
England skipper Alastair Cook was delighted with the performance of his side. He himself led from the front with a brilliant century to take his team to a massive total in the second innings.
Cook, in the post-match presentation, was almost speechless and termed it one of the best games he has even been part of. He also called it a brilliant day for the English team.
“It’s one of the best matches I’ve ever been involved in – a great cricket wicket, two sides that gave their all and played as good cricket as they could play,” Cook said. “I can’t really speak. It was just a brilliant, brilliant day.”
All-rounder Ben Stokes also made a scorching century for his side, and also got rid of three kiwi batsmen in the second to help his side complete a thrilling win.
Cook was all praise for Stokes, who was left out of England’s World Cup squad, and said that the Durham all-rounder is making big strides in the development.
“He (Stokes) made another massive stride in his development,” Cook said. “To score a hundred at Lord’s and the way he played in both innings was tremendous for him.”
“His challenge will always be to work on his consistency but there is so much talent there and so much desire to win for England he’ll only go from strength to strength,” he added. “We’ve just got to keep backing him and he’ll be a tremendous cricketer.”
