England and New Zealand are up against each other in the 1st Test 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 lost the wicket of Zak Crawley early when Tim Southee dismissed him.
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However, the duo of Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope added 99 runs for the 2nd wicket and stabilized the innings. Blair Tickner removed Ben Duckett to get his first Test wicket. Joe Root came on to bat after Duckett’s dismissal, and he was looking to score runs.
Under the coaching of Brendon McCullum, the English team has played some aggressive 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, and they lost their 4th wicket at 154 runs.
Joe Root ramps Neil Wagner for four over the slips as England
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 1st 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 Root was at it.
Root used the angle perfectly and beautifully played the scoop to hit a boundary over the slips. Former England’s captain has been quite aggressive in his approach with the red ball but perished while playing the same shot as well. Wagner came in to bowl the 28th over, and he got successful in dismissing Root.
On the 2nd ball of the over, Wagner again bowled a delivery outside off, and he anticipated that Root will play the shot again. Root did exactly the same, but he could not connect it well. It took Root’s under edge and Daryl Mitchell took a brilliant catch at the slips.
