England in New Zealand: 'Joe Root and the team needed this century'
- Published
Joe Root's 114 not out was his first first-innings Test century since August 2017
Joe Root knew the importance of reaching three figures against New Zealand - not just for the England team, but also for him and the talk about his position as captain.
He looked like a batsman who walked out on the third day of the second Test in Hamilton determined to score a hundred. It is tough for a batting captain when he is not scoring centuries and people start to point the finger.
I saw a real change in attitude in Root before this match even started.
When I interviewed him, I noticed a striking difference in his demeanour. He was chirpy, he was engaging, he was smiling, he was cracking jokes. He was more like the Root that we know.
Before that first Test, I thought he was very quiet, very reserved - troubled, maybe.
I remember finishing the interview and thinking 'that's not like Root'. I think maybe he has had a sit down, thought about things and come out and started his whole warm-up for this final Test in a different way.
He seems to have gone back to the original way that he was batting. In the first Test, you could see quite a striking back-and-across movement before the ball was bowled, setting himself up on off stump, which did not look quite like him and cramped him a little bit.
The way he got out in Mount Maunganui, playing two indeterminate shots to be caught in the slips, reflected that.
But here, Root has gone back to his normal place. He played absolutely beautifully and did not put a foot wrong in making an unbeaten 114 as England closed on 269-5, trailing by 106.
It was not an exciting innings - it was his slowest hundred in Test cricket, off 259 balls - but I do not think he played a false shot. He has played very straight - total no-risk cricket.
It is a very flat pitch and he just batted like a man determined to score a hundred. He needed it, and England needed him to score it.
The fact that Root has played a really good innings will do him the power of good. It will set him up well for the winter tour of South Africa and restore some of his confidence.
Once the captain is under pressure for form, it is very easy for the opposition to start putting the pressure on and the team begin to suffer. A batsman in form is a much better captain.
There is lots of criticism of Root for his captaincy. The fact is, he has had to learn on the job. This is the problem with modern cricket - the captain gets no experience.
People seem to expect captains to come in and be the next Mike Brearley, but all those great England captains of the past had the experience of leading their counties.
Root is a very thoughtful and intelligent cricketer. Cricket is very much part of him. Now he has got some runs, that will make things easier.
On the third day, England - led by Root and Rory Burns, who made 101 - got the tempo right.
You can play low-risk, patient cricket but still push the balls into the gaps, and they were busy enough to keep that left-hand, right-hand combination moving over.
As splendidly as Root and Burns played, England are still up against it - and they need more of the same on day four if they are to have any chance of winning the match and drawing the series.
Root's innings in numbers
This was Root's first century in the first innings of a Test since August 2017 against West Indies.
He has faced 278 balls, his longest innings since he became Test captain in February 2017.
Since Root was appointed skipper, no England batsman averages more with the bat - 41.54 in 35 Tests.
Root and Rory Burns' 177-run stand is the second-highest in Test cricket at Seddon Park, after India's Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly's unbroken 194 in 1999.
It is the first time two England batsmen have scored a century in the same Test innings since September 2018.
Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Amy Lofthouse.