Ben Stokes lavishes praise on "world-class" Ben Foakes

GEORGE DOBELL AT LORD'S: The England Test captain hails Foakes' performance behind the stumps and as Joe Root's partner in the successful chase to beat New Zealand by five wickets

Ben Stokes has hailed Ben Foakes as the "best wicket-keeper in the world" after he played a key role in England's first Test victory.

Foakes went into England's second innings under a little bit of pressure. He had failed to pass 42 in his 12 most recent Test innings and had failed to reach double-figures on seven occasions. With Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler among those vying for the gloves, he needed a performance.

More importantly, his side needed a performance. When he came into bat in England's second innings, they still required 118 more runs and only a fragile-looking tail remained after him.

But, having come in on the third evening with England under pressure, he batted for more than two hours in helping Joe Root knock off the runs, finishing unbeaten on 32 after an impressively nerveless innings. That followed a typically polished display with the gloves that his captain suggested had made tricky chances look straightforward.

^{Foakes was also imperious behind the stumps, adding five dismissals to his vital fourth-innings knock (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

"Ben is the best wicket-keeper in the world," Stokes said afterwards. "That's not just my own opinion, that's a lot of people's opinions. And we're not in a position to not select world-class players at the moment

"Batting at No.7, which he does for England, is different to the role that he plays for Surrey because he bats higher up.

"But that situation, going in last night with about an hour left, was a very, very big part of the game and he handled it very, very well. Joe walks off with all the plaudits, but Foakesy has to take a lot of credit for the way he handled that pressure.

"Him walking off there not out with Joe at the end no doubt will give him a lot of confidence going into the rest of the summer. And the way that he kept, he took some catches which he made look very easy but they weren't.

"As emotional as it was for him, it was fantastic for me to see a very close friend walk off after leading England to victory. It was a great day"

"To have a gloveman like Ben behind the stumps gives me a lot of confidence and it gives the bowlers a lot of confidence.

"Ben's only going to get better with the more confidence that he gets and he's the best keeper in the world so it's great to have him behind the stumps."

Stokes also expressed great pride in the performance of Root, who scored a match-winning century in his first game since standing down from the captaincy.

"There is never any doubt Joe stepping up on the big occasions," Stokes said. "To see him walk off there, leading the team to victory, seeing the emotion of pure joy and happiness to win a game for England in his first match after stepping down as captain was amazing.

Root and Stokes' 90-run stand broke the back of the chase (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

"We are very close. We're not just work colleagues together. As emotional as it was for him, it was fantastic for me to see a very close friend walk off after leading England to victory. It was a great day."

Stokes did admit, however, that he had enjoyed "a huge piece of luck." In England's second innings, he thought he had been dismissed for one, only to be reprieved when it transpired the bowler, Colin de Grandhomme, had overstepped.

As Stokes suggested, it's hardly the first time he had enjoyed a slice of fortune at Lord's against New Zealand. 

"No matter what my wife gets me from a birthday, it probably won't be as good as that," he said. "It was obviously a huge bit of luck. I was very, very fortunate because I don't think Colin oversteps the mark that often. But at Lord's, drama just seems to follow me around."

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