NEW ZEALAND VS ENGLAND, 1ST TEST, CHRISTCHURCH : Brydon Carse ten-for Helped England To Register a Stunning Victory Against New Zealand in 1st Test .
Brydon Carse’s blistering 10-wicket haul and debutant Jacob Bethell’s quickfire half-century guided England to a convincing eight-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first Test at Hagley Oval, giving them a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Brydon Carse ten-for Helped England To Register a Stunning Victory Against New Zealand in 1st Test .
TOSS-
England won the toss and opt to bowl.
PLAYING XI-
New Zealand Squad:
Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, William ORourke
England Squad:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope (wk), Ben Stokes (c), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir
DAY 1-
Ben Stokes was quick on the draw with his decision to bowl first, expecting his bowlers to extract the best of the new ball on a pitch with a ‘nice covering of grass’. Gus Atkinson provided Stokes with that, taking a sharp catch off his own bowling to dismiss Devon Conway in the second over. New Zealand’s decision to replace their player of the series in the historic 3-0 win in India – Will Young – with a bench player was looking questionable but Williamson made sure that call would always be justified. The experienced pro was scratchy early on as the England pacers found a bit of seam movement but he rode out that first phase to settle in like he usually does. Between them Latham scored the runs early, square through point, then cover and then mid-off whenever the bowlers pitched it in his arc.
Williamson added only eight in the second-wicket partnership that brought up 58 runs. Immediately after the drinks break, Brydon Carse dismissed Latham from a brisk innings, getting him caught behind for 47 from only 54 balls. With Rachin Ravindra to keep him company, Williamson became the first New Zealand batter to score 1000-or-more runs against four (or more) different oppositions in this format. Each of the England fast bowlers at different points had issues with the landing area on this pitch, the excess moisture underneath causing them issues. Ravindra and Williamson barely changed gear below four-an-over for much if the session, with an over from Stokes featuring Williamson driving one through covers and then pulling one behind square, separated Cleveland with two deliveries.
Bashir broke the stand against the run of play after Williamson and Ravindra had scored boundaries at a rapid rate at the start of the post-Lunch session. Ravindra took it at the full, charged the spinner but flicked it directly to mid-wicket where Zak Crawley was waiting. Williamson toyed with the lengths of the spinner when yet another partnership grew – with Daryl Mitchell. The fourth-wicket partnership carried New Zealand to 193/3 at tea and if it appeared Stokes was out of ideas to break the stand.
New Zealand slumped from 227/5 to 252/7 as Bashir snapped up Tom Blundell and Nathan Smith. Matt Henry and Glenn Phillips — who was lucky to still be out there when Ben Stokes dropped him on 0 — seemed to be taking the team through to the end of the day without any more damage but Bashir returned to deny that. The off-spinner tempted Henry to hole out to Ben Duckett at long-on to claim his fourth wicket. Tim Southee and Phillips batted out the final 4.1 overs.
DAY 2-
The two teams greeted the second day’s play in strikingly different conditions. Gone was the hot and breezy weather of yesterday’s opening day and with it cool and overcast, the kind of conditions Stokes might have imagined when he decided to bowl yesterday. Coincidentally or not, this also turned into more assistance for the bowlers and more errors from the batters – after 15 overs in England’s innings, the false shot percentage was around 30, while the corresponding number for New Zealand was a mere 15.7.
New Zealand’s last two wickets made a vital 29 runs in just 40 minutes of cricket which included Glenn Phillips moving from 41 to 58†, before they could smack these bowling-friendly conditions. Before long, No.11 Will O’Rourke had his off-stump uprooted by Brydon Carse to leave him with 4 for 64, a career-best haul, and New Zealand’s innings at 348.
Once Tim Southee started with a maiden during which he curved a pair of sublime outswingers past Zak Crawley’s bat, it became clear that hauling down that score, or even doing justice to England’s gung-ho orthodox with the bat, was going to be no stroll. The tall opener’s troubles in this country — average of 10.43 in 16 innings — were compounded when Matt Henry seamed one back to LBW him.
Forty-five for three became 71 for 4 in the post-Lunch session as Duckett’s lucky innings ended four away from a half-century when his attempted pull shot off Will O’Rourke did not make it past the deep square leg fielder. New Zealand should have had their fifth wicket, and Smith his third, in the next over when Brook edged a wide delivery to gully and the normally unflappable Glenn Phillips put down a straightforward catch.
That enabled Brook and Ollie Pope to start putting the building blocks in place for a major partnership. They started spryly, swiftly making up for any ground lost. Especially the two right handers, who were heavily scoring by finding gaps past gully and and hitting over the slip cordon. Brook was reprieved again on 41 when Latham fluffed a simple chance at slip with Smith the unlucky bowler again. The pitch eased out in the second session as both Richo and the debutant New Zealand batter reached their half-centuries while Graeme Smith weeks from 174/4 – exactly halfway to the hosts’ first-innings total.
Runs kept flowing in the final session though New Zealand eventually held on to a catch to break a partnership of 151 runs for the fifth wicket. This, however, was at the other end of the fielding scale as Phillips dived full length to his right to pluck an uppish shot from Pope. PHILLIPS HAS HIS FAVOUR When Phillips rolled his arm over as Devon Conway dropped another chance at deep slog, however, the favour wasn’t returned. He was on 71 at that point, and Brook saw him through to his century off 122 deliveries with his ninth four – he struck two sixes too – and another that flew beyond the point fielder.
DAY 3-
Brook and Stokes resumed from where they left off overnight, the latter hitting a boundary in the opening over to bring up the century stand between the pair. The hosts stayed sloppy in the field on Day 3 as well with Brook getting dropped for the fifth instance in his innings, this time on 147 at gully. England had been 35 behind at this stage but the batters accumulated 36 from the next five overs, taking them ahead, while New Zealand took the new ball as soon as it was available in gloomy clout. Brook reached his 150 during this spell of play when he crashed a boundary off the veteran Tim Southee, dancing down the track to hoist the ball over extra cover. He smacked Southee for 23 in his two overs. In between, Stokes also raised his 50.
Brook eventually perished to a catch behind attempting to run one to third-man, bringing down a brilliant innings and a gargantuan 159-run stand. Chris Woakes followed soon after as the hosts seemed to have roared back into the contest when the lead was only 33 runs at that point. But Stokes and Gus Atkinson (48) provided further frustration to the hosts with another partnership of 63 runs during which England also reached 400. Soon Atkinson stopped using up balls to get set and began to play his shots with two fours and two sixes off the short ball, while Stokes allowed himself the penalties of playing two drives through cover to the boundary.
Stokes was out for 80 when he holed out to long-on. Brydon Carse went at his shots from the off, boundary for his first but escaped an earlier dismissal when Glenn Phillips spilled a skier at point. With three sixes and two streaky boundaries, Carse made the most of it in his 24-ball 33 before Shoaib Bashir was caught by Southee at mid-wicket as England extended their lead to 151.
New Zealand’s Tom Latham could only watch as England kept turning the screw when he finally fell for 2. The New Zealand captain closed his bat face early and Brook held a low catch at second slip. Devon Conway fell for single digits for the seventh time this year, dragging a pull to mid-on duly held: Atkinson. Williamson and Rachin Ravindra safely saw the hosts into Tea without further damage. In sublime touch, with 93 to his name from the first innings, he cuts some beautiful drives through cover and down the ground for the boundaries. Shortly after the Tea break, Ravindra fell to a pull shot straight to Jacob Bethell at deep mid-wicket.
Williamson, who seemed to be at home on the rather placid pitch, played some delightful drives past the fielder on the boundary, while Daryl Mitchell rode along nicely with some lovely punishments for over-pitched balls bowled by Atkinson, and even reverse swept Bashir for four. Bashir was targeted by the two batters as Bangladesh’s debutant bowler went to 32 run in 4 over while Williamson made his 37th Test 50.
But, as they chewed away at England’s advantage, Woakes returned to pin Williamson LBW on 61 off a straight ball the star batter missed. Cut to the third umpire, who had a clearer view due to the camera angle — impact is umpire’s call as Williamson falls short of a century once again in the Test. Tom Blundell’s wretched run with the pencil was extended when he fell first chunk, piling the weight on his shoulders. Just one 50 in Blundell’s last 18 innings, averaging just 15.88 with the bat during this time. The hosts were led with Phillips and Mitchell but the visitors provided the breakthrough once again knocking over the former by lbw, with Carse on the right end of the wicket. Nathan Smith and Mitchell negotiated the final three overs but New Zealand have a mountain to climb on Day 4.
DAY 4-
Starting from an overnight score of 155 for 6, New Zealand began the day with intent and were scoring close to five RPO when Carse struck with a double, cleaning up Nathan Smith and Henry in the single over. Seema’s other batter found himself trapped LBW as Carse’s five-fer was complete. Tim Southee’s 12 runs came off sixes during a 13-ball stay but Gus Atkinson took care of that threat early.
William O’Rourke gave Daryl Mitchell the support he needed to keep England at bay for the ensuing 13 overs. Mitchell was the dominant partner in their 45-run stand of the last wicket while O’Rourke played the perfect supporting role in stacking the runs to leave New Zealand with a respectable 254, England’s target grown to 104 before, bravely, Carse brought up his first six-wicket haul in Test cricket to vede the all-rounder in an extended morning session.
Ben Duckett was beaten a couple of times by Southee after Lunch in the first over but it was Henry who got the early breakthrough at the other end. Zak Crawley had a pair in the Test, duly nicking Henry to be caught by the bowler for one. That was followed by back-to-back fours slammed off Southee as Duckett made it clear England meant business, Bazball mode engaged: this target was mere small change. The following Southee over bore 16 including a top-edge for a six over the bowler’s head.
New Zealand quickly made a bowling change, with debutant Nathan Smith replacing the departing seamer, but it was Jacob Bethell who crossed the fence four times in his opening over itself to take England past the 50-run mark within seven overs. William O’Rourke had briefly succeeded in tightening things up again when he got Duckett caught at third man, but the respite lasted two balls as new batter Joe Root capped the over with a hat-trick of fours that maintained the up-tempo beat.
Root brought England into the 90s with his initial six of the innings, Bethell followed similarly on the other against drinks and then brought up not only the winning runs, but also his 37-ball half-century, which helped the visitors compile the chase in under 13 overs.
Brief scores:
England 499 (Harry Brook 171, Ben Stokes 80, Ollie Pope 77; Matt Henry 4-84, Nathan Smith 3-141) and 104/2 (Jacob Bethell 50\*; Matt Henry 1-12) beat New Zealand 348 (Kane Williamson 93, Glenn Phillips 58\*; Brydon Carse 4-64, Shoaib Bashir 4-69) and 254 (Daryl Mitchell 84, Kane Williamson 61; Brydon Carse 6-42, Chris Woakes 3-59) by 8 wickets.