New Zealand were touring England for three Test matches and an ODI tri-series, which also featured the West Indies. After playing three warm-up fixtures against county teams, they faced off against the hosts in the first international game of the tour at Lord’s.

Michael Vaughan, who had taken over as England captain from Nasser Hussain not long back, was missing the game due to injury. That provided the England team with an opportunity to give a debut to the young left-handed opening batter Andrew Strauss.

Winning the toss, New Zealand batted first and put up a decent score of 386. Mark Richardson, Nathan Astle, Jacob Oram, and Chris Cairns all got half-centuries, with Cairns’ 82 coming off 47 balls.

England responded with a mammoth opening stand of 190, with Marcus Trescothick scoring 86 and Strauss scoring a hundred in his very first Test innings. England ended the first innings with a lead of 55.

New Zealand put up another total in excess of 300 in the third innings, setting a target of 282 for the hosts with three and a half sessions to play.

While Trescothick and Mark Butcher got out cheaply, debutant Strauss and Hussain, batting for the final time in Test cricket, stitched a 108-run third-wicket partnership. It was almost as if the baton was being passed from the senior pro in the last leg of his career to the promising youngster who was about to take his place.

Strauss was eventually dismissed on 83 while Hussain remained unbeaten on 103, steering England home in a tricky chase one final time.

A few days after the match, Hussain announced his retirement, not just from Test cricket, but from first-class cricket as well. While it was known that he was in the twilight of his career, the mid-series announcement took everyone by surprise.

“Age has been catching up on me a little, the body, the fire in the stomach and the eyes have started to deteriorate a bit as well. I was willing to fight that and I was willing to fight against opposition players but I was not willing to fight against youth in the form of Andrew Strauss,” Hussain said in his retirement speech.

Watch: Nasser Hussain bows out of Test cricket with hundred