New Zealand tore into England’s top order as they looked to take full advantage of what Tom Latham termed a “traditional” Wellington pitch on the first morning of the second test, before Harry Brook and Ollie Pope once again set about attempting to salvage the innings during a full-pelt opening session at Basin Reserve.
England’s scorecard told a sorry tale at 43 for 4 at the top of the first hour. Matt Henry was immaculate with the new ball, at one stage possessing figures of 4-4-0-2 as he took care of both openers, before Nathan Smith struck twice in as many overs. That brought together Brook and Pope, off the back of their match-changing stand of 151 in Christchurch, and an almost immediate shift in momentum as they once again looked to put pressure back on the home attack.
This time, New Zealand didn’t give them any assistance – having dropped eight catches in England’s first innings last time around, they swallowed everything that came their way, the pick being Daryl Mitchell’s one-handed snag off Joe Root. But Brook and Pope proved that attack is the best form of defence for this England side, rattling off an unbroken stand of 81 off 80 balls to even things up at lunch.
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 in helpful conditions for the New Zealand attack – 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.
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 a maiden to Ben Duckett before finding the opener’s outside edge with the second ball of the fourth over, Latham scooping a low chance in the first sign that New Zealand’s catching was back up to the mark.
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Having thrown the bat repeatedly at Southee – occasionally with success – Crawley then found himself in Henry’s crosshairs. The bowler’s third consecutive maiden featured an unsuccessful attempt by Crawley to come down the pitch at him, and Henry then picked up his wicket for the third time in as many innings with a peach of a delivery at the start of the eighth, nipping the ball back through the gate to hit the top of middle and leg – Crawley’s tentative forward defensive emphatically breached.
The introduction of Smith for the wayward Southee only added to England’s challenge, Jacob Bethell beaten on both edges during another maiden. 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 – although marginally better off than when Brook walked out in the first innings on his previous visit to Basin Reserve. Twenty months ago, England were 21 for 3 before Brook rescued them with a scintillating 186 from 176 balls.
It did not take him long to get going this time around, either. Brook smoked the first boundary off Henry from his 10th ball, but lost another partner when Bethell was suckered into gloving Smith’s bumper down the leg side to Tom Blundell, having hit the previous two balls back down the ground for four.
Pope, having flicked his first ball for four, survived a direct hit when called through for a tight single by Brook, who then decided to concentrate on boundaries: Smith’s fourth over ransacked for 20, including an audacious inside-out drive for six over cover. Will O’Rourke was cracked for four second ball by Brook, and Pope then took back-to-back fours off the returning Southee, the fifty stand coming up from just 37 balls later in the same over.
With lunch approaching, Brook repeated his on-the-up thrash over the extra cover boundary off O’Rourke, a single off the next ball taking him to a 47-ball half-century, and encouraging the notion that another rescue act was in the offing.
