Cook admits England had lucky escape against Kiwis in first Test

England captain Alastair Cook was struggling for answers to his side's repeated first Test stumbles as he conceded they were lucky to escape with a draw against New Zealand in Dunedin

England were forced to occupy the crease in their second innings for nearly two days to salvage the match, reaching 421 for six — a lead of 128 runs — when the rain-interrupted first Test ended yesterday.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum felt they could have toppled the world’s second-ranked side had the Test not been reduced to four days because of the weather, and Cook did not argue with that.

“We’ve been lucky in one sense to escape with a draw, certainly. That’s a huge reminder that if you don’t perform, you don’t deserve to win anything,” Cook said.u00a0

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