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England Test skipper Ben Stokes expressed his delight with his side's series win over New Zealand but was "disappointed" with the bashing that they received in the final Test of the series, reported ESPNcricinfo.
England stayed true to 'Bazball' and showed their pedigree for success to secure their first series win in New Zealand since 2008. New Zealand were outclassed in the opening two Tests and had only a consolation win on offer. "We came here to beat New Zealand. A team, who wherever they go in the world are very competitive and knew they were going to be full of confidence after their historic win in India," Stokes said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. "To play the cricket that we did in the first two games was very, very pleasing. We came here this week with the same attitude, same mindset, that we always do in the first two games out here. We just didn't play anywhere near our capabilities," he added. An inspired bowling performance from the New Zealand bowling unit left England wounded at 143 in the first innings. The visitors never really recovered from that position and eventually fell to an emphatic 423-run defeat. From that point, England didn't even have a sniff of victory at Seddon Park, which left Stokes a bit disappointed even though they achieved what they came for. "It's obviously disappointing to end the tour and the year with a loss. But what we came here to achieve, we managed to achieve. It's no mean feat coming to New Zealand and beating them because they're a very very strong team in their home conditions." Following the conclusion of the series, New Zealand and England completed their World Test Championship matches and ended the cycle at fourth and sixth spots, respectively. Both teams failed to qualify for next year's WTC final. (ANI)
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