Ben Stokes celebrates England’s ‘incredible courage’ in Wellington win

Ben Stokes praised his team’s “incredible bravery” after England beat New Zealand in Wellington to claim an expected series victory on the road.

Less than two years after a agonizing one-run defeat at Basin Reserve, England returned to the scene and swept aside the Black Caps by a crushing margin of 323 in the second Test.

Leading 2-0 with one to play at Hamilton next week, Stokes’ men are back and running away from home after losing two and drawing one on one of their three overseas assignments over the of the last two years.

And although the scoreboard suggests it was a walk in the park, things were very different when England were 43 for four in the first hour of the match.

In the face of adversity, they achieved a stunning turnaround. Player of the match Harry Brook conjured up a scintillating 123, Gus Atkinson claimed England’s first hat-trick in seven years and Joe Root notched his sixth century in 2024 as the milestones continued to roll.

“From 40-4 on day one, to be sitting here on the winning side halfway through day three is pretty special,” Stokes said, highlighting a stand of 174 between Brook and Ollie Pope as a turning point.

“We played dominant cricket. There was a great example on the first day from Harry and Ollie, they played with incredible courage and backed their own abilities, but you also have to have the skills to play like these two.

“In cricketing terms, that ground was what we call a snake pit… it did a lot. Brooky is simply phenomenal. No one has the right to go out and score 120 on this wicket, against the New Zealand attack. There are only a few players in the world who could play like him and I’m happy he’s on our team.

The victory, England’s first in this country since 2008, was Stokes’ 19th as England captain in his 31st match. That puts him just ahead of the revered Mike Brearley in terms of winning percentage, with the 1981 Ashes mastermind winning 18 of his 31 matches at the helm.

Asked to delve into this particular statistic, Stokes offered a one-word response: “Mild.”

He was happier to deflect the praise towards his players, particularly delighting in the efforts of 21-year-old Jacob Bethell. After reaching 50 without wanting to seal victory in Christchurch, he made 96, leaving him desperately short of his maiden century in professional cricket.

There was some skepticism about his promotion to such a crucial position given his thin CV, but Stokes felt fully vindicated.

“I know there was a bit of Beth in batting at three with her inexperience and lack of first-class cricket,” he said.

“It was ‘should we hit him lower and ease him into the trials and tribulations of Test cricket?’ But me and Baz (head coach Brendon McCullum) don’t think like that. You have a young boy with so much potential and so much talent, why not let him go out there and expose himself to Test cricket in its toughest form?

“As a young boy, I was devastated that he didn’t get three figures. I came in and said, “It’s only four races, right?” ” and his response was “Yeah, but it would have been great if I had pushed this through the covers to talk about it.” » It’s class. I think he proved a lot of things to a lot of people.

Stokes also marveled at the audacity of Root, who made his 36th Test hundred with a reverse ramp over wicketkeeper Will O’Rourke.

“I thought it was amazing… to pick up a 6-foot-9 giant who was playing rockets. It happened and it was great,” he said.

England’s early victory earned them a few more days off before heading to Hamilton, looking to finish the year with a 3-0 whitewash.