ENG vs NZ | 1st Test | Stuart Broad optimistic about England's chances

When New Zealand resumed their second innings on the third day of the ongoing Test match against England at Lord’s, they hadn’t imagined losing their remaining six wickets adding just 49 more runs to the tally. 

The collapse, which was triggered by Stuart Broad, restricted the Kiwis to 285, thereby setting up a target of 277 runs for England to register their first victory under the new management. 

In reply, England lost four quick wickets, but the brilliant partnership of 90 runs between the two stalwarts Joe Root and Ben Stokes brought them back into the game. After the fall of Stokes, Ben Foakes battled hard in the middle alongside Root and the duo returned unbeaten to the dressing room, with England needing just 61 more runs for their victory at stumps on day three. 

Although there still exists a possibility of the game swinging into the Kiwis’ favour with the fall of these two set batters, Stuart Broad believes that England are in the driver’s seat in the match and can emerge victorious from this situation. 

Addressing the media after completion of the day’s play, Broad said that the game is set up for a cracking finish and he feels that the fourth day will turn out to be a good one for the home side. Continuing, Broad stressed that with England’s best batter Root and a well-set Foakes still batting, they should ideally end up on the winning side. He also said that even if these two get dismissed, the lower order can find a way to score the remaining runs as the target is not too far away from their reach. 

“It's set up to be a brilliant morning and it's up to us to do everything we can to get over the line. I've got a really good feeling about tomorrow. Joe Root is one of England's best-ever batsmen and Foakesy settled really nicely. Then it will be up to the lower order to find a way to chase these runs," Broad said. 

Broad revealed that he felt as if England had no chance in this match after New Zealand’s tremendous fightback on the second day. The 153-tests-old veteran also applauded the valiant efforts of the English bowling unit, which played an instrumental role in providing England a real chance to win the game. 

“Going to bed last night, I felt as if we might have let the game get too far away", Broad said. "If New Zealand had a great hour and a half this morning, we were certainly up against it. We couldn't have done any better. It was a dream world for us. It's given us a fighting chance," the 35-year-old concluded.