England player ratings vs New Zealand: Ben Stokes truly a mixed bag as Joe Root hits special second innings

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Will Macpherson5 June 2022

A Joe Root century helped England to a five-wicket win over New Zealand on the fourth morning of the first Test.

The former captain became the second England batter after only Alastair Cook to reach 10,000 Test runs and ended on 115 not out.

Will Macpherson was at Lord’s to rate the England players.

Alex Lees - 5

25 & 20

Has made it to 20 in each of his last six innings, but still never made it past 31. Needs to make one of these starts count. Worries about his approach, with interesting tactics like that guard miles outside off.

Zak Crawley - 5

43 & 9

Played really nicely in the first innings, before falling in familiar fashion. Prised out in the second. England need more consistent output from him.

Ollie Pope - 4

7 & 10

Two low scores in his first two appearances at No3, both over misjudgements over the line of the ball. Fantastic run out of de Grandhomme on third day.

Joe Root - 9

11 & 115*

A failure in the first innings sparked the collapse, but a special second innings that won England the match. 10,000 runs and so many more to offer. Must have been a tricky few months, but never stops smiling and is a total credit to the game.

Jonny Bairstow -5

1 & 16

Appeared to have parked his habit of being bowled in Test cricket, but it returned with a vengeance here. Second innings was truly frustrating, as he just had to survive a ball more of Jamieson’s outstanding spell, but got sucked into a big drive. Deserves huge credit for brilliant catching that provided the inspiration for a key part of England’s best passage of the match.

Ben Stokes - 6

1 & 54; 1-5 & 0-43

A truly mixed bag. Bowled fine, sweeping up the final wicket in the first innings, then resorting to bumpers in the second. Loose shot in the collapse, then a wild ride of a knock in the second. They were 54 important runs, though. Captained well, making sure he got his two debutant bowlers into the game promptly.

Ben Foakes - 7

7 & 32*; 5 catches

On home debut, kept very tidily on a famously difficult ground to do that job. Listless in the first innings, but outstanding in the company of Root second time round. Not a big score, but should be a big step forward.

Ben Foakes took a big step forward on his home debut
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Matt Potts - 8

4-13 & 3-55

A fabulous debut. Picked up Kane Williamson with his fifth ball, and again in the second innings. Not express, but accurate and hurried batters.

Stuart Broad - 7

1-45 & 3-76

Was a little slower to get into the game than Anderson, but found one of those spells on day three to turn the game on its head. A very solid return.

James Anderson - 8

4-66 & 2-57

Gave England a sensational start to the match, and had Will Young’s number. New Zealand’s lower order gave him a bit of tap on day one, but was superbly probing with the new ball.

Matt Parkinson - 6

1-47

The strangest of debuts, as England’s first concussion sub in place of Jack Leach. A couple of handy shots with the bat, then a solid start with the ball. Stokes had him on at the wrong end at first, but it was smart to let him bowl at the tail, which brought his first wicket.

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