London [UK], June 5 (ANI): England pacer Stuart Broad has urged his team to maintain their positive approach on Day 4 and said that he got a really good feeling about winning the ongoing Lord’s Test against New Zealand.
The ongoing first Test between England and New Zealand is set up fine with the hosts needing 61 runs to win with five wickets in hand. The credit for the fact that England managed to make a comeback and be in a winning position goes to Stuart Broad.
Chasing 277 runs to win, England still have Joe Root batting on 77 while Ben Stokes also scored a crucial half-century before getting out in the final hour of the day’s game.
Broad, who took three wickets in the second innings to add to his one in the first, triggered New Zealand’s stunning batting failure on the third morning.
“I’ve got a really good feeling about tomorrow. Joe Root is one of the calmest, England’s best-ever batsmen, and Foakesy (Ben Foakes) I thought settled really nicely, and then it’s going to be up to the lower order to chase these runs, so it’s set up to be a brilliant morning,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Stuart Broad as saying.
He lauded Joe Root for playing a fine knock while also felt that Foakes has stuck around well so far.
“It’s been a really enjoyable Test match, really exciting and hard to know what is going to happen from hour to hour. It’s great to be coming [back] knowing either team could win. In Test cricket, you’re constantly saying ‘it’s a big hour’, and I feel like we’ve said that every single hour here. The hour with Rooty and Foakesy before the new ball is going to be crucial to try and get the runs down as low as we can,” he added.
“There have been times we’ve had to soak up pressure, but we’ve got to have a really positive mindset leading up to the new ball. The way Rooty and Stokesy (Ben Stokes) played after a bit of luck with the no-ball showed the way this team wants to go about it,” Broad said.
After a somewhat quiet performance with the ball in the first two days, Broad’s game-changing display showed when he dismissed Daryl Mitchell who shifted the wave of the game with a 195-run for the fifth-wicket partnership with Tom Blundell, he revealed that it had come at a vital moment for the team.
“It was huge. We were a bit disappointed yesterday afternoon…they played really well for their runs. We knew we had to strike with the new ball because the Test match was riding on it,” he said.
“If New Zealand gets 340-350 it’s a different game. I really enjoyed the feeling of getting the crowd going, and lifting the energy in the stadium. The crowd responded brilliantly and so did the players,” he added. (ANI)