Harry Brook stood head and shoulders above the crowd with his big century in Wellington, allowing England to claim a second one-day Test against New Zealand.
having some luck sat down On his way to 171 last week in Christchurch’s victory, Brook was dominant at Rasin Reserve, smashing 123 on the day where he took 15 wickets as the ball fell dominated by the bat. 43 England reeling for four after he was let in, and would have been sunk if Brook had not taken a precarious position. He led a counter-attack of 174 by Ollie Pope (66), with a fifth-wicket haul that drove the tourists to 280 all out.
It looked more than competitive by the time New Zealand moved to 86 for five, Brydon Carse grabbed two wide wickets and England’s clever build-up grew.
Brooks had previously struck out five, six and 11 times, and burned errant marks along the way. The 25-year-old has now taken seven of the eight Test wickets from home, a Bradman-esque average of 91.50 in his 10 appearances on tours. He may have had luck on his side in the first Test, when he was bowled five times, but he didn’t provide one concrete chance until he was run out by Nathan Smith, who hit one off the tee.
England’s innings was “Bazball” in its purest form, as fearless as it was vicious. They were bowled out in the middle for 55 overs, but scored at 5.12 an over, with 154 runs in their overs. The tone was set by Zak Crawley, who tried to blow his way into form after allowing one run in two innings last week.
He doubled that match tally with an inside edge off the first ball of the day, then a six delivery to Tim Southee drilled down the ground for a six. In doing so, he became just the second person in history to clear the ropes in the first Test, joining the exclusive club of West Indian Chris Gayle. He burned through almost all his hands, playing and missing at an alarming rate before Matthew Henry bundled him through the gate with beauty.
Somehow, Crawley’s partner Ben Duckett was still outclassed, caught in the ducks of eight balls when Henry was bowled for a four for two, no runs. Joe Root’s arrival didn’t stop him from calming things down, with the world No 1 trying to ram Smith at deep third despite a slip of a packed cordon. Mitchell made an attempt to rout him, giving him a single hand to catch the ball so that the army could put their previous handling errors behind them.
Jacob Bethell was the fourth to go, and pushed back at stumps before being caught at leg-side stumps in the fairway. Peace was in order, but England rarely take that route. Instead, Brook and Pope put their foot down with 81 in 80 balls before lunch. He quickly showed that his torrent was in no way dictated by going outside leg and sending Smith out of the ground onto the road.
Torrens flew over 50, showing off his power as he turned to clear the boards for boundaries outside the roof, mid-wicket and long-on. At three figures in 91 balls, England’s second fastest century, it was as if New Zealand were wondering where to turn.
It was Will O’Rourke who found the answer, troubling Pope with two lifters before hitting a pull attempt at short leg. Ben Stokes also took it for just two squares, taking it round the wicket and on the edge.
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Brooks was the wicket he badly needed, though, and he delivered it softly in the last run of the afternoon session – for a run that never saw him run into Smith’s insurance. This was the first four wickets in 16 balls as the Kiwis raced through the tail.
The soldiers came more subdued to their noise, but watched the English fighting. Brooke kept Devon Conway in the cordon as Gus Atkinson hit the new ball and Stokes bowled Tom Latham for his first wicket since July.
And then Carse. England’s rising star man Williamson cleaned up the attack with a scripted delivery that swung the bat and top off, only to be called out for a severely tight no ball. Initially flustered, he turned his frustration into focus, running in from square leg to make a tricky bat-code catch as Chris Woakes got Rachin Ravindra cheaper.
Carse tied the loose ends as Williamson was caught trying in the canal after 36 and things went round when Mitchell rolled a ball to short leg.