England saved by another Brook-Pope special as New Zealand lose early grip on contest
Alan Gardner05-Dec-2024Harry Brook scored his second dazzling hundred in as many innings to once again rescue his side from trouble in Wellington. Buoyed by Brook’s 123 off 115 balls, England then knocked over half of the New Zealand batting as 15 wickets fell on the opening day of the second Test.Having been reduced to 43 for 4 on what Tom Latham had described at the toss as a “traditional” Basin Reserve pitch, England were indebted to Brook and Ollie Pope reprising their Christchurch heroics with a rip-roaring stand of 174 at more than a run a ball. But New Zealand held their nerve – and (almost) all of their catches – to claim the last four wickets for 21 after Brook had been run out by the alert Nathan Smith.Ben Stokes said he had wanted to bat, but either way it made for another uncomfortable examination of England’s approach in bowler-friendly conditions. Matt Henry set the tone for New Zealand by bowling four consecutive maidens, picking off both openers in the process, while Smith continued an eventful start to life in the Test team by taking 4 for 86 from 11.4 overs.England were duly skittled in just over two sessions – but the benefit of their aggression, which saw them scoring at 5.12 an over, meant not only had they posted a serviceable score, there was still plenty of life in the surface when it came to their turn with the ball. Pitches in New Zealand have a tendency to flatten out, but England’s seamers quickly got stuck into their work.As in Christchurch, much of the action revolved around Brydon Carse. His face was a mask of anguish moments after hitting the top of Kane Williamson’s off stump, as the officials confirmed that he had overstepped. Williamson, on 20 at the time, averages close to 70 at Basin Reserve, with five hundreds. But after taking a spectacular diving catch to help dismiss Rachin Ravindra, Carse returned for a second spell and found Williamson’s outside edge, the dismissal completed by a diving Pope, before bouncing out Daryl Mitchell as England surged late in the day.New Zealand’s opening stand had not got much further than England’s before Gus Atkinson coaxed an expansive drive from Devon Conway, which only resulted in a thick edge to second slip. Carse immediately caused issues for Williamson, who was perilously close to edging behind; England reviewed only for UltraEdge to suggest the noise had been from bat thumping into pad. After Carse’s no-ball, New Zealand had moved on to 53 for 1 when Stokes had Latham chopping on.Brydon Carse leaps in celebration•Getty Images
Brook’s hundred, the eighth of his career, came off just 91 balls and this time owed little to the generosity of New Zealand’s fielders. He was beaten often, with the pitch offering plenty of assistance, but continued to play with freedom, crashing 11 fours and five sixes before being dismissed from what became the last ball before tea. Having turned Smith into the leg side and set off looking for a run, Brook was then stranded well out of his ground as the bowler scampered across to his right and threw down the stumps.Pope was also in fluent form, adding his second half-century for the series batting at No. 6 after the top order had been blown away. He drove and cut with aplomb, and looked unrufflable until confronted by the extra bounce of Will O’Rourke midway through the afternoon session. After getting away with a miscue that cleared short leg, he was dismissed top-edging a pull in O’Rourke’s next over.O’Rourke had another shortly after when he pinned Stokes to the crease before taking the outside edge for a catch at second slip. Brook’s dismissal was followed by another collapse, as Atkinson, Woakes and Carse all fell in consecutive overs.England’s scorecard had told a sorry tale at the top of the first hour. Henry was immaculate with the new ball, at one stage possessing figures of 4-4-0-2, before Smith struck twice in as many overs. That brought together Brook and Pope, off the back of their match-changing stand of 151 in the first Test, and an almost immediate shift in momentum.Having dropped eight catches at Hagley Oval, New Zealand swallowed their chances this time around, barring a Carse edge that went too fast for Glenn Phillips. But the second half of the session saw 81 runs scored off 80 balls as Brook and Pope proved that attack is the best form of defence for this England side.Although Zak Crawley hit 10 off the first over of the day, which included lofting Tim Southee back over his head for an imperious six, it quickly became clear that England’s aggressive method was going to be tested to the fullest – albeit that the early cloud cover had already burned off by the start of play, and most of the morning session took place under clear blue skies.Kane Williamson was bowled off a no ball from Brydon Carse•Getty Images
Crawley eclipsed his Christchurch tally by taking two off Southee’s first ball, and by the end of the over he had surpassed his meagre average in Tests against New Zealand. But Henry was in no mood to allow liberties at the other end, bowling seven dots to Ben Duckett before finding the opener’s outside edge, Latham scooping a low chance in the first sign that New Zealand’s catching was back up to the mark.Crawley then found himself in Henry’s crosshairs. He was dismissed for the third time in as many innings by a peach of a delivery that nipped back through the gate to hit the top of middle and leg – Crawley’s tentative forward defensive emphatically breached.Henry conceded his first runs at the start of his fifth over, Root pushing three through the covers, but that was to be his only scoring shot as an injudicious waft at Smith produced a thick outside edge and a flying one-handed catch from Mitchell at first slip.At 26 for 3, England were in strife – albeit marginally better off than when Brook walked out in the first innings on his previous visit to Basin Reserve. On this occasion, England’s situation got worse before it got better, as Jacob Bethell was suckered into gloving Smith’s bumper down the leg side. Pope survived a direct hit when called through for a tight single by Brook, who then decided to concentrate on boundaries as the pair raced to a fifty stand from just 37 balls.Brook’s signature shot was his inside-out thrash over the extra cover boundary, which he unfurled on three occasions, while Henry was also dumped on to the grass banks when dropping short, before the introduction of Phillips’ offspin helped usher him through to his third century in four Tests against New Zealand.