“We were going to bat anyway”, were the words of England captain, Ben Stokes, just after having lost the toss and being put into bat by his opposite number, Tom Latham. Whether or not this statement was true, or just a classic show of defiance, Stokes’ words were soon mocked by a fired up Kiwi bowling attack, looking to right their wrongs of the week prior, where they were categorically thumped by a clinical England side.
Within 13 overs, England found themselves at 43-4, with both openers falling victim to opening bowler, Matt Henry, whilst Bethell and Root once again found themselves dismissed by Nathan Smith, who found the edge on both occasions.
Much of the conversation in the buildup to the second test, taking place at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, was around opening bat, Zak Crawley. Whilst Stokes was firm in his defense of Crawley, who entered the test averaging just under 10 against New Zealand, in 16 innings (despite averaging over 40 in the past 18 months), the noise around his unexplainable lack of form consumed much of the buildup towards the match.
Any pressure accompanying this chatter was not evidently visible upon the opener, as Crawley dismissively hit Tim Southee back over his head for six in the first over of the day, becoming only the second batsman to score a maximum in the first over of a test match – following the great Chris Gayle, who has done so twice. Nonetheless, his dismal run of form against the Blackcaps continues, as he eventually fell to an absolute gem of a delivery by Matt Henry, angling the ball past the inside edge, and crashing into the top of middle stump.
Zak Crawley becomes only the second batter in Test cricket history to smash a six in the first over of a match after Chris Gayle, who achieved this feat against Bangladesh in Mirpur all the way back in November 2012⚡
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With England stranded at 43-4, yet another Bazball implosion was imminent. Once again, Ollie Pope joined the in-form Harry Brook out in the middle, with an imposing task at hand. Brook led the charge, and in typical Brook fashion proceeded to loyally abide to the mantra that the best form of defense is offense, gradually dragging England out of their formidable hole via a compilation of fantastic strikes, including yet another six that cleared the ground, landing in the middle of the roundabout surrounding the Basin. Ollie Pope again showed his strength batting at number 6, looking very much at ease, whilst methodically chipping away at the Kiwi bowling attack through a combination of placement and timing. The two middle-order batsmen proceeded to add a further 81 runs before lunch, ending the session on 124-4.
As honors approached even, both Brook and Pope continued in spectacular fashion after lunch, propelling their vital 5th wicket stand to 174, off just 159 balls, before Pope disappointingly gave his wicket to the 23-year-old Will O’Rourke, spooning a short length delivery up in the air, comfortably taken by Ravindra at short leg, bringing an end to an impressive 66 off 78 balls.
Stokes looked unsettled against the pace and bounce of O’Rourke, eventually nicking off to Latham at second slip, departing for just a couple of runs. Woakes joined the now centurion Brook, and looked timid, but resilient, as he poked and prodded away, attempting to bring England into tea with no further scars. However, it was the seemingly invincible Brook who fell in the final over before the tea break, indolently running himself out having been returned off an unlikely single, sending himself back to the pavilion with a stunning 123 runs, off 115 balls, including 5 maximums and 11 fours.
New Zealand would’ve been the happier of the two teams at tea, with England restricted to 259/7, but they would not have imagined the dismal implosion that followed. Nathan Smith continued his fine form, finding the edge of Gus Atkinson the over after tea. Woakes followed suit not long after, and Wellington-born Smith soon wrapped up the innings, as Brydon Carse fell on his sword trying to clear the boundary rope, finding the eagerly awaiting hands of O’Rourke at deep backward square leg. Smith finished with expensive, but most welcome, figures of 4/86, whilst Matt Henry ended the innings as the pick of the New Zealand bowlers, upsetting the English top order with his pace and swing, eventually finishing with figures of 2/43.
England will once again be extremely thankful for their number 5, with 233 of their 280 runs being scored with Brook at the crease. The loss of their final six wickets in just 15 overs and losing 4 wickets in just 21 balls will baffle many passive onlookers, yet unfortunately collapses such as this are becoming increasingly regular in the Stokes-McCullum regime.
The chaos of the English innings was evidently transferred upon the Blackcaps amidst a thrilling evening session. With just over two hours to make inroads, England came out firing, with Chris Woakes in particular producing a wicketless, but magical spell with the new ball. Devon Conway was the first to go, continuing his run of poor form with a scratchy score of 11. Ben Stokes forced his opposite number, Tom Latham, to slash a wide delivery onto his stumps, and Rachin Ravindra quickly followed his skipper back to the shed with an underwhelming score of 3.
Even Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell, two historically stoic batsmen in the face of English siege, failed to blunt the English attack, with Williamson edging behind off Brydon Carse, for 37, and Mitchell eventually following suit for just 6. The English impetus was set aflame by a particularly excited Basin Reserve, as they searched for a 6th wicket. Nightwatchman, Will O’Rourke, and keeper-batsman, Tom Blundell, saw the hosts home with a staunch display of defense, eventually ending the day with New Zealand at 86/5, concluding a hair-raising final few hours.
New Zealand head into Day 2 trailing by 194 runs, with 5 wickets in hand.
