England had whizzed their way to Hagley Oval on e-scooters hoping the fourth day would be a similarly frictionless cruise. There was a bit of resistance from New Zealand in the end but not enough to prevent the tourists claiming an eight-wicket win and a 1-0 lead in this three-match series.
The moment came at 2.48pm local time when Jacob Bethell pulled a single to reel in a target of 104 in 12.4 overs. Brydon Carse had earlier been the one to set things in motion, claiming his maiden Test five-wicket haul with figures of six for 42 and so 10-106 in the match. Throw in an unbeaten 33 with the bat during England’s 449 all out and it made for an impressive outing from Durham’s muscular fast bowler.
It was Carse who finally terminated Daryl Mitchell’s steadfast 84 to bowl New Zealand out for 254, trigger a delayed lunch, and thus 40 minutes for England to ponder how they might approach the chase. How they spent the other 39 minutes and 59 seconds is not known, England racing there with a flurry of boundaries – 15 fours and three sixes – and Bethell a neat 50 not out from 37 balls.
Zak Crawley had followed a first-innings duck by chipping a catch back to Matt Henry for one, while Ben Duckett fell for an 18-ball 27 that featured some madcap mischief. But this lot pay little heed to numbers, evidenced by Bethell’s debut here. The 21-year-old shaped up nicely again, too, even if the crunching six he hooked off Nathan Smith with nine to win will probably please England more. Joe Root, finished 23 not out; a happy ending to his 150th Test after that first-innings duck.
Not that everything was rosy for them on the fourth day. Ben Stokes started out in tandem with Carse but pulled up lame three balls into the fifth over of his spell. A stiff back was said to be the reason, with Stokes staying on the field and the word “precautionary” doing the rounds. But at the end of a year in which Stokes has already sat out four Tests with a hamstring tear, it was still a concern.
This was England’s seventh victory on the road since Stokes and Brendon McCullum came together back in May 2022. But as clinical as their players were during the second half of this series opener, it would be hard to rank it alongside Rawalpindi in December 2022 or Hyderabad in January this year. Indeed, New Zealand’s generosity with the bat and in the field made this a chiefly self-inflicted defeat.
The profligacy began during their first innings of 348 all out and then became ruinous when they took to the field. Eight dropped catches – including five off Harry Brook en route to his defining innings of 171 from 197 balls – were a bit of a shock so soon after that 3-0 win in India, even if England’s aggression counts for something.
Although after being handed a few gifts on day one, Shoaib Bashir snaffling four wickets, England’s attack was pretty efficient the second time around. With a 151-run lead on the scoreboard, they carved out six strikes on day three before the deficit had even been wiped out, with Chris Woakes and Carse sharing them evenly. From an overnight 155 for six, New Zealand added 99 more in morning.
Woakes grazed in the outfield first thing but Carse thundered in for a six-over spell that eventually cleaved out two wickets. Both came by moving away from a short ball plan and hunting the pads, with Nathan Smith, 21, and Matt Henry, one, pinned lbw. To underline England’s preference for attributes over statistics, this completed just his sixth first-class five-wicket haul and a first since 2021.
Gus Atkinson, who had completed Stokes’ unfinished over, soon had Tim Southee caught in the deep for 12 when attempting a third six. With two Tests to go before his Test retirement, Southee needs to clear the rope five more times to be just the fourth player in history to score a century of sixes in the longest format. Raiding nine against England on debut 16 years ago, aged just 17, made for a handy start.
Those mighty blows in Napier came at the end of England’s more recent series victory in New Zealand and now there is a golden opportunity to end a run of four visits here without one in Wellington next week. If not, there is a third Test in Hamilton, after the 1-1 draw here in early 2023 left everyone wanting more.
