Stokes hails England’s ‘dominant’ style of play for series win in New Zealand 

A whooping 323-run win in Wellington on Sunday sealed England’s first-ever Test series win in New Zealand in 16 years.

When asked as to what was the catalyst behind the same, the visiting team’s captain Ben Stokes showered praise on a quickfire batting approach that has been the hallmark of England’s Test side in recent years.

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“To play the more dominant cricket over the days we have played so far,” Stokes said when asked how England ended their drought in New Zealand.

Stokes reasoned, “In this Test in particular, on day one, we were 43 for 4 to be here on the winning side on day three is quite phenomenal.

“We got bowled out in fifty (54.5) overs but we had 270 runs on the board which was a good score on that day one-wicket, and then we obviously had time left with the ball to be able to make some inroads. To score 270 and take five wickets at the end of day one really set this game up.

“We back ourselves to be able to go out there and change games and we feel that there needs to be a bit of impetus put into the game, particularly with the bat.”

Having arrived in Wellington with a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series, England scripted a triumph inside three days, courtesy of an all-round batting display in the second innings.

In command with a 155-run advantage after running through the Black Caps on Day 2, the visitors piled on another 427 runs before declaring the innings.

While Joe Root scored a century, Harry Brook - who had got a triple digit score in the first innings - scored another 55.

Also among the runs were Ben Duckett (92) and 21-year-old Jacob Bethell (96), who was featuring in his second Test for England.

“I know there was a bit made of Beth batting at three with his inexperience and the lack of first-class cricket batting up the top of the order,” Stokes said.

“But me and Baz (Brendon McCullum) don't think like that. You've got a young lad with so much potential and so much talent, why not let him go out there and expose himself to Test cricket at its toughest.”

Batting four runs away from what would've been his maiden Test hundred, Bethell was caught behind by Tom Blundell after he nicked one off Tim Southee.

"As a young lad, I was devastated for him to not get that three figures,” Stokes said. But I walked in and I said to him, ‘it's only four runs, isn't it?’

“And his response was, ‘Yeah, but it would have been flair if I smacked that through the covers to bring it up.’ Class. I think he's proved a lot to a lot of people and proved why we rate him so highly.”

England will now lock horns against New Zealand for the third and final Test in Hamilton, starting December 14.