WELLINGTON: Harry Brook smashed a century and England then took five New Zealand wickets in the final session to put the visitors on top after the first day of the second Test on Friday.

The Black Caps were 86-5 in response to England’s 280, with Brydon Carse capturing the key wicket of Kane Williamson soon before stumps to cap an enthralling day.

At close Tom Blundell was on seven and nightwatchman Will O’Rourke yet to score.

It was a fast-moving opening day, in a similar vein to the first Test in Christchurch, which England won by eight wickets in three and a half days.

Brook set the tone with his brilliant 123 off 115 balls, following on from his match-winning 171 at Hagley Oval.

He again rescued England, who had crumbled in the first hour to 43-4 after being sent in on a green Basin Reserve pitch.

Brook described it as the “favourite” of his eight centuries in 23 Tests, surpassing even his 317 against Pakistan on a friendly batting surface in Multan in October.

With England in trouble, he took the fight to the home seamers by charging down the pitch to put them off their line.

New Zealand’s top order had no answer against seam and bounce through an intense last 26 overs of the day.

Devon Conway was caught behind off Gus Atkinson for 11 before fellow opener Tom Latham was clean-bowled by captain counterpart Ben Stokes for 17. Rachin Ravindra departed for three, caught by a diving Carse in close off Chris Woakes.

The lively Carse (2-28) then claimed danger man Williamson, caught by diving wicket-keeper Ollie Pope for 37. Daryl Mitchell, on six, snicked a second catch to Pope, down the leg side off Carse.

Williamson had survived some near scrapes early in his knock, including being bowled by a superb delivery from Carse, before the anguished seamer was found to have bowled a no-ball by overstepping the mark.

Earlier, Brook’s fifth-wicket partnership with Pope (66) proved a turning point on the day, the pair counter-punching their way out of trouble with 174 off 158 balls.

The stand was reminiscent of the first Test when the same pair combined for a rapid 151 to revive their first innings.

Brook blasted five sixes and 11 fours before being run out on the last ball of the second session. Smith took 4-86.

Before Brook’s departure, O’Rourke (3-49) removed Pope and Stokes in the second session before Smith wrapped up the tail soon after tea.

Matt Henry (2-43) had Ben Duckett caught by a diving Latham at second slip without scoring before bowling fellow-opener Zak Crawley for 17.

Smith had both Jacob Bethell (16) and Joe Root (3) caught behind, with Mitchell grabbing a flyer with one hand at first slip to remove Root.

SCOREBOARD

ENGLAND (1st Innings):

Z. Crawley b Henry 17

B. Duckett c Latham b Henry 0

J. Bethell c Blundell b Smith 16

J. Root c Mitchell b Smith 3

H. Brook run out 123

O. Pope c Ravindra b O’Rourke 66

B. Stokes c Latham b O’Rourke 2

C. Woakes c Blundell b O’Rourke 18

G. Atkinson c Phillips b Smith 4

B. Carse c O’Rourke b Smith 9

S. Bashir not out 0

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-7, NB-2, W-12) 22

TOTAL (all out, 54.4 overs) 280

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-12 (Duckett), 2-21 (Crawley), 3-26 (Root), 4-43 (Bethell), 5-217 (Pope), 6-222 (Stokes), 7-259 (Brook), 8-263 (Atkinson), 9-275 (Woakes)

BOWLING: Southee 12-0-62-0, Henry 15-5-43-2, Smith 11.4-1-86-4 (2w, 1nb), O’Rourke 12-1-49-3 (2w, 1nb), Phillips 4-0-32-0

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings):

T. Latham b Stokes 17

D. Conway c Brook b Atkinson 11

K. Williamson c Pope b Carse 37

R. Ravindra c Carse b Woakes 3

D. Mitchell c Pope b Carse 6

W. O’Rourke not out 0

T. Blundell not out 7

EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-4) 5

TOTAL (for five wickets, 26 overs) 86

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-18 (Conway), 2-53 (Latham), 3-64 (Ravindra), 4-74 (Williamson), 5-79 (Mitchell)

STILL TO BAT: G. Phillips, N. Smith, T. Southee, M. Henry

BOWLING: Woakes 7-1-18-1 (1nb), Atkinson 4-0-18-1 (2nb), Carse 7-1-28-2 (1nb), Stokes 8-0-21-1

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2024