England fight back
Joe Root and Ben Stokes both fell agonisingly short of a hundred after rescuing England from a dire position on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's on Thursday.
At stumps, England -- who had been 30 for four when Stokes came in -- were 354 for seven after New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and fielded.
Root (98) and Stokes (92) had put on 161 for the fifth wicket.
Jos Buttler (67) and Moeen Ali (49 not out) then added 103 before the wicketkeeper was lbw to Trent Boult off the last ball of the day.
England came into this match dealing with the fall-out from the sacking of coach Peter Moores and the ongoing furore surrounding Kevin Pietersen's continuing exile from the side.
They were also up against a reinvigorated New Zealand side fresh from a run to the World Cup final. And when England lost those four early wickets, it looked like their woes were about to multiply.
Yet it was two of England's 'young guns', the 24-year-old Root and the 23-year-old Stokes who turned the tide in the first of this two-match series.
Earlier, New Zealand were quickly among the wickets as they lost their first batsman for only 17. And the next three were lost for five runs in 15 balls in what was the 100th Test between the two sides.
SCORES IN BRIEF
ENGLAND: First innings 354 for 7 (Root 98, Stokes 92, Buttler 67, Ali 49 not out, Cook 16; Henry 3-93, Boult 2-70)
NEW ZEALAND: Latham, Guptill, Williamson, Taylor, McCullum, Anderson, Watling, Craig, Southee, Henry, Boult.
Toss: New Zealand.
Umpires: Sundaram Ravi and Marais Erasmus.
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