England captain Ben Stokes was pleased with his side’s performance after securing a comfortable 115-run victory in the first Test match against New Zealand at Lord’s Cricket Ground. The win was a welcome change for the Three Lions, who played their first Test since suffering a humiliating 4-1 defeat at the hands of Australia in the Ashes.
Stokes understood the magnitude of the game against the Black Caps and how important it was to win and not have any negative press carrying forward from the Ashes. The all-rounder wants to celebrate the moment with the rest of the team ahead of the second match at the Oval.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m obviously very happy that we’ve won this week. I knew how big this game was in terms of the result and how it was going to be perceived externally if it didn’t go well. But it has gone well, though I won’t be really happy and smiling until I get up there and share a beer with the boys,” Ben Stokes was quoted as saying via Sky Sports.
Despite winning the first Test match, Stokes does not want England to take their foot off the gas for the rest of the summer. The Three Lions still have five more Tests to play on home soil, which includes the remaining two games against New Zealand and a full three-game series against Pakistan in August.
“It would be easy to rest on your laurels. We’ve won the first game of the summer – it’s great that we’ve managed to do it, but we’ve got five more to go. We’ve got two more games against New Zealand, who are a quality team. We always have great battles against them. We’re one Test match down out of six, so there is a long way to go still,” he added.
Despite guiding England to a win at Lord’s, Stokes himself had a poor game. The 35-year-old scored just 12 runs across two innings, including a duck in the second, whilst taking just one wicket with the ball. However, that solitary wicket was a crucial one, dismissing Devon Conway to help the Three Lions secure the win.
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