Joe Root praises England fightback against New Zealand
Friday 22 May 2015 12:25, UK
Joe Root has praised England’s fighting spirit after they recovered from 30-4 to reach 354-7 on day one of the first Investec Test against New Zealand at Lord's.
Root made 98 before being dismissed by debutant Matt Henry as the home side's middle order got them out of trouble after an early wicket blitz.
England's new vice-captain was thrilled with their response after lunch, with fine support innings coming from Ben Stokes (92) and Jos Buttler (67).
He told Sky Sports: “It’s a fantastic effort from the lads. If you said at 12 o’clock this was going to be the score at the end of the day, we would have snatched your hand off.
“We just want out there with the mentality of trying to counter attack, they went aggressive at us.
“We knew we were in trouble, we wanted to make sure we were busy and assertive.
“We wanted to take the initiative, make it hard for them to settle. If they miss a length we tried to put them back under pressure.”
Moeen Ali remains unbeaten on 49 and he will partner Stuart Broad after Buttler was dismissed off the final ball of the day.
Root is hoping England can mount another partnership on day two to go past 400, with debutant Mark Wood and Jimmy Anderson also left to bat.
“It was quite strange before lunch I felt I was scoring quite freely," Root added. “After lunch they set a defensive field, it was difficult to score in the same manner.
“I was lucky to have Ben at the other end who was playing so freely. If we can build another partnership, small targets, we can go from there.”
