NZ vs ENG: NZ trail by 288 runs at stumps on Day 1

NZ vs ENG, 1st Test, Day 1: New Zealand 37 for 3 (Conway 17*, Wagner 4*) trail England 325 for 9 dec (Brook 89, Duckett 84) by 288 runs

England’s incorrigible Bazballers put on yet another show of genre-bending Test cricket on another day.

Which aspect of the most recent installment piques your interest the most? The notion that either Harry Brook or Ben Duckett could have, or should have, broken Gilbert Jessop’s 121-year-old, 76-ball record for the fastest England hundred? Or how about the sight of England’s most outstanding modern Test batter, Joe Root, being caught at slip while attempting a ramp shot on the first afternoon of a Test?

Or how about Ben Stokes’ most recent captaincy highlight, a declaration in the first innings after just 58.2 overs—the second-fastest such gesture in Test history? By that time, England had advanced to a typically freestyle 325 for 9 at a rate of 5.77 runs per over, and Ollie Pope was arguably the only one to suffer from anything that could ordinarily be referred to as “old-school bowling pressure.” Despite the enduring class of Tim Southee and the indomitable Neil Wagner, an attack featuring two nervous debutants holds few fears when your minds are as free as boys on a golfing vacation.

Although England’s innings was not quite as impressive as their previous first day of a series, when they scored 506 for 4 in Rawalpindi in December, its conclusion was still noteworthy

Given England’s high-rolling Test lifestyle, it’s hard to even call their declaration a “gamble,” but it was a typical Stokes calculated move. It gave Mount Maunganui’s full-beam floodlights a 90-minute test for New Zealand, and by the time they got to 37 for 3 in 18 overs before the end, it had paid off big and hard.

Ollie Robinson didn’t have to wait long to live up to his elevated status because he was already regarded by his teammates as equal to James Anderson and Stuart Broad, his seniors. Initiated in the fifth over, he promptly struck with his third ball as Tom Latham fenced casually to short leg. The seasoned Anderson then switched ends and removed two of New Zealand’s batting mainstays for the typically meager score of 2 for 11 in seven overs.

Zak Crawley’s poor drop at second slip prevented him from taking Devon Conway’s first wicket, but Crawley soon made up for it with a tougher take to take out Henry Nicholls. By this point, Anderson had already caught the biggest fish, Kane Williamson, and dismissed him for six with a successfully reviewed lbw. In addition, those two scalps increased Broad and Anderson’s partnership haul to 999, surpassing McGrath and Warne’s record of 1001. On Friday, you would have expected them to reach four figures.

This was yet another remarkable day in the life of Stokes’ England team, despite the fact that floodlit cricket is a novel enough concept to stand off many of the conventions of Test cricket. On a pitch that was being battered by Cyclone Gabrielle last week, they were asked to bat first after losing a toss that neither captain really wanted to win. In such circumstances, even this lineup might have had some reservations, especially when Crawley ran out of lives in the third over after surviving clear chances in each of the previous two.

All action on Day 1 at Bay Oval. The visitors make a strong start with the ball under lights. Devon Conway (17*) and Neil Wagner (4*) see the team to stumps. Catch up on today's action with highlights at @sparknzsport and scores | https://t.co/7YaefN1flm 📲 #NZvENG pic.twitter.com/B7ot3jZQNT

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) February 16, 2023

But rather than actually encouraging England to “run towards the danger,” as their team’s motto would have it, the threat only served to do so. And Duckett and Brook, two of England’s outstanding performers in the 3-0 series victory in Pakistan before Christmas, whose confidence in both their own form and the team’s cause was plain for all to see, ran faster than even the post-tea streaker who briefly troubled the stewards.

Duckett’s first significant action of the match was to rub salt in New Zealand’s wounds, particularly Wagner’s, who thought he had bowled Crawley with a perfect first ball in swinger before being run out for a front-foot no-ball.

Wagner, who was unfamiliar with the new-ball honors given New Zealand’s traditional wealth in that area, experienced a morale-crushing moment as a result. However, with Trent Boult overlooked and Matt Henry on paternity leave, Wagner’s response was a frantic search for a magic ball of atonement. His best work would have to wait for the back end of the innings, when he reverted to his familiar pitch-battering line and scalped four late wickets with the dog-eared old ball.

Instead, Southee called on Blair Tickner, who was the first of his two debutants. Tickner’s first pitch was loose and nervous, especially in his third over, when Duckett hit four fours in five balls. Jessop-watch was in full swing until he climbed through one too many drives and picked out Michael Bracewell in the covers to hand Tickner his first wicket. His fast hands and combative attitude propelled him to a 36-ball half-century, which was the fastest by an England opener. Tickner also took his first wicket.

Brook won the second session, but not before England had provided New Zealand with a brief respite. When Stokes scuffed an overly eager pull straight at short midwicket to hand New Zealand’s second debutant Scott Kuggeleijn a notable first scalp, they slid from a formidable base of 152 for 2 to a mid-session nadir of 209 for 5.

Root, England’s other established great, had come and gone by this point in a devil-may-care innings of 14 from 22 balls that included a successful reverse-ramp for four over deep third off Neil Wagner and a less successful one in which Wagner fired the ball out a touch wider of off stump, allowing Daryl Mitchell to dive to his right at slip to prevent the under-edged opportunity.

One over prior to Root’s dismissal, Pope, quietly in control of his own tempo on 42 from 65 balls, appeared to be frightened by the idea of eight dot-balls in ten deliveries from the unrelenting Southee, and he steered his next delivery to slip. If there is ever a sense that England are in danger of going too far with this bold new approach, it was heightened when Pope steered his next delivery to slip.

However, England is equally determined to use the sword to live their best lives in between times if they are prone to do so. Brook, who had been cruising toward his fourth hundred in as many Tests before Wagner coerced him into dragging another dirty bomb onto his own stumps, is living a better life right now than anyone else.

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Brook would have become the most precocious new boy in Test history if he had succeeded in doing so in only his seventh innings. George Headley, Sunil Gavaskar, and Vinod Kambli all required eight innings to reach the same milestone. He still has some of the most startling numbers of all time, 569 runs at 81.28 and a remarkable strike rate of 94.51, bolstered here by 14 fours, the majority of which were hit through point, and a towering six down the ground off Southee that reminded everyone of Kevin Pietersen in his prime. With one week remaining until his 24th birthday, Brook is England’s batting’s future—and, with increasing certainty, its present.