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England batted and declared boldly and then picked up three late wickets under the lights as they bossed day one of the pink-ball Test against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui.
England sprinted to 325-9 from 58.2 overs – Harry Brook (89 off 81) and Ben Duckett (84 off 68) top-scoring – before captain Ben Stokes called his side in with around 90 minutes of play remaining, wanting to subject the Black Caps to taxing batting conditions.
Stokes’ declaration – the second-earliest in the first innings of a Test – reaped immediate rewards with New Zealand 37-3 by stumps after Ollie Robinson removed Tom Latham (1) and James Anderson prised out Kane Williamson (6) and Henry Nicholls (4).
Anderson also had Devon Conway (17no) dropped by Zak Crawley at slip on nine as England bowled with the accuracy New Zealand’s attack lacked, before Conway and nightwatchman Neil Wagner (4no) ushered the home side through to the end of a breathless day.
Brook was on course to follow his three tons in Pakistan in December with another against the Black Caps and match the four in a row Ken Barrington twice achieved for England in the 1960s.
The Yorkshireman and opening batter Duckett both threatened to score England’s fastest Test ton, which remains Gilbert Jessop’s 76-ball effort against Australia at The Oval in 1902.
Duckett’s hopes ended when he slapped debutant Blair Tickner to cover late in an opening session in which England piled on 134-2 in 23 overs, while Brook was unable to overhaul Jessop having started the evening on 79 from 64 balls with England 279-5 from 48 overs.
Brook played beautifully through the off-side – a sublime six off Black Caps skipper Tim Southee (2-71) the highlight – and clinched a 43-ball fifty with a delicious ramp before he was bowled under the lights after dragging the indefatigable Wagner (4-82) onto his stumps.
Former England captain David Gower said some of Brook’s shots were ‘jaw dropping’
England have won nine of their 10 Test matches since Stokes became captain and former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum head coach last spring and they adopted a thrilling brand of cricket.
Their record in previous pink-ball games is woeful, with five defeats on the road since they thumped West Indies by an innings at Edgbaston in 2017 but their quick-scoring along with Stokes’ declaration has them in a decent spot to end that run and win a first Test match in New Zealand since 2008.
England punish wasteful Black Caps
England’s run rate for the day was a progressive 5.57 an over against an attack who bowled a number of loose deliveries in the absence of Matt Henry (paternity leave), Kyle Jamieson (injured) and Trent Boult (overlooked after turning down a central contract).
It took until the 47th over for the first maiden of the match, due to a combination of New Zealand’s waywardness and England’s attacking intent.
New Zealand seamer Neil Wagner picked up four wickets in England’s total of 325-9 declared from 58.2 overs
Ollie Pope (42), Joe Root (14), Stokes (19) and Ben Foakes (38) also chipped in before falling to aggressive – and arguably cavalier – shots with Root, whose dismissal shortly after Pope’s left England 154-4 after a wobble of 3-37, out playing a reverse scoop.
Zak Crawley (4 off 14) could not contribute to the gush of runs, snicking Southee to Michael Bracewell at slip in the third over having already been dropped on nought by the same fielder and reprieved by a no-ball after being bowled by Wagner on three.
Duckett, though, played beautifully – driving and clipping his way to a fifth fifty-plus score in seven innings since being recalled for December’s tour of Pakistan with four boundaries off five balls in one Tickner over and back-to-back fours off Southee in the next as he clinched a 36-ball half-century.
Ben Duckett smashed 84 from 68 balls at the top of the order after England were inserted
When Duckett dispatched successive short balls from another Black Caps debutant, Scott Kuggeleijn, to the midwicket rope to reach 76 from 58 balls, Jessop’s 121-year-old record looked in peril.
However, it remained intact as Duckett picked out Bracewell to end a stand of 99 from 99 balls with Pope and later when Brook slowed up in his pursuit of three figures before being dismissed.
Brook’s wicket triggered some dramatic cricket with Stuart Broad (2) – back in the England side after missing the 3-0 sweep in Pakistan due to paternity leave – and Foakes – with whom Brook had put on 89 from 98 balls for the sixth wicket – holing out chasing quick runs.
Robinson (15no off 11) had his fun, too, before Stokes declared once Jack Leach ballooned Wagner into the leg-side, denying Wagner the chance of a 10th Test five-wicket haul.
Robinson soon had Latham caught by Pope at short leg, while Anderson pinned Williamson lbw on review with his nip-backer set to clatter into leg stump before Crawley atoned for his drop of Conway in the cordon by pouching Nicholls in the same spot.
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