It seems that the test series against New Zealand is beginning to revive the cricket in England after it was turning pale and going nowhere. In the last two years, only one man has been consistently getting England to a competitive stage with his batting - Joe Root.
Since January 2021, Root has scored more than 2400 runs in test cricket. There has been simply no match to Root at this moment. However, with the team's performance dipping, Root decided to step down as the captain earlier this year.
England had a complete revamp with Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum taking charge of the things as captain and coach. However, Root is still England's best batter at the moment and he's still pushing them into competitive positions just like in the 2nd test where he once again scored a stunning 176.