Monday 25 November 2019 11:33, UK
Familiar batting failings leave England to reflect on an innings defeat. Here are the key moments from the day five action at Bay Oval...
Neil Wagner took 5-44 as England were bowled out for 197 to fall to an innings and 65-run defeat to New Zealand in the first Test at Mount Maunganui, writes Sam Drury.
Joe Root's side started the day with seven wickets remaining as they attempted to bat out for a draw but a flurry of wickets midway through the afternoon session broke their resistance and they were eventually bowled out 45 minutes into the evening session.
With England reeling after losing the set pair of Ben Stokes and Joe Denly, New Zealand were on course for victory again and confidence was high. So much so that Wagner decided to try a knuckle-ball. A lovely idea but the execution was off, rather than a dipping yorker, the left-armer sent down a slow, wide full toss. A harmless delivery, especially for a side trying to bat out for a draw.
However, rather than letting the ball go, Ollie Pope stretched to meet it and thumped it into the offside where Mitchell Santner flung himself to his right at cover and took a stunning one-handed catch. Santner's catch epitomised New Zealand's excellence throughout the match while Pope's shot just about summed up England's batting on the afternoon of day five. The much-talked-about new, more patient approach to Test match batting was nowhere to be seen.
Joe Root has long been considered England's premier batsman and with good reason. The Yorkshireman has 16 Test centuries to his name and at his best is one of the finest batsmen of his generation, scoring freely and making batting in international cricket look like the simplest thing in the world. The problem for England is that it has been quite a while now since we have seen him at his best and his slump continued with another tame dismissal on day five at Bay Oval.
Of course, even the best players go through bad runs of form, the worry is that this current malaise may be something more than that. Root averaged 52.80 in Test cricket prior to taking over the captaincy but another disappointing return in Mount Maunganui means his average in more than two years as skipper has now dipped below 40, 39.70 to be precise. Still very respectable but the drop-off is stark and the question of whether the captaincy is affecting his batting is being asked more forcefully than ever and with increasing regularity.
Managing director of England men's cricket Ashley Giles insists Root will captain the side in the 2021/22 Ashes but for all he may bring as a leader, the thing that will undoubtedly be most crucial to the team in Australia will be his runs. Can he score as heavily as captain as he did beforehand? That is for Root to prove and if he is unable to soon, there could be a difficult decision to make.
England captain, Joe Root: "I think we missed an opportunity, if we're being brutally honest with ourselves, when you look at the two innings in comparison.
"Two of their guys went on and made big contributions, we had a couple of guys play really well but we could have done with getting a score over 450 really, and then using that scoreboard pressure almost as another fielder. Not kicking on is what's cost us the game."
New Zealand captain, Kane Williamson: "The talent's always been there [with Mitchell Santner] but I think to spend so much time at the crease and work through periods against an outstanding bowling attack and come away with his first Test hundred, along with BJ Watling's double, was an incredible effort to get us into a position to win."
Rob Key: "[Joe Root] is just out of nick really, isn't he? That's the problem. You can talk about intent and I don't think it is the worst piece of bowling but when Joe Root is in form, he will knock that away or just duck underneath it every day of the week. You can just see he's got a bit of a cluttered mind at the minute and he's not quite in sync. He's just got to find a way to get that rhythm back."
Watch day one of the second Test between New Zealand and England from 9.30pm, Thursday on Sky Sports Cricket.
