Cricket fans were on the edge of their seats when England needed just two runs to complete a whitewash over New Zealand in the two-match Test series whereas the Blackcaps were one wicket away from victory.
As it turned out, New Zealand pacer Neil Wagner his counterpart James Anderson caught behind down the leg side, helping the hosts register a famous 1-run win to level the series 1-1.
WHAT A GAME OF CRICKET
New Zealand have won it by the barest of margins…
This is test cricket at its finest ❤️
#NZvENG pic.twitter.com/cFgtFBIkR4
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) February 28, 2023
In the post-match interview, England skipper Ben Stokes said “that game is what Test cricket is about” and it was incredible to be involved in such a thrilling contest.
England became just the fourth team to lose a Test match after enforcing a follow. Australia was the first team to record the unwanted feat as they lost to England by 10 runs way back in 1894.
“That game is what Test cricket is about, it was just incredible. The emotions we were going through and obviously the Kiwi boys out there as well. Was incredible to be involved in such a Test match. Everyone’s got their money’s worth,” said Stokes.
“It was a case of assessing the situations, we always knew that at some point in that partnership (between himself and Root), Tim was gonna have to roll the dice with something. Wags came on and blew the game open for them. For myself and Joe there, that was our opportunity to pounce,” he added.
About the short-balls bowled by the Kiwi pacers, Stokes said: “Sometimes things don’t happen the way you want them to. With those bouncer plans, we had to make a decision and obviously, it didn’t come off for us. It was an opportunity for us to score runs there. As soon as Waggie came on to do those bouncers, I saw it as an opportunity to maybe take 20 runs off the over and then bring the game even more in our favour.
“Credit to Waggie and Tim [Southee] for coming up with that idea.”
