England’s Brydon Carse took 6-42 for match figures of 10-196
CHRISTCHURCH, Dec 1: New Zealand battled to delay the inevitable but England eventually eased to an eight wicket win in the first test on Sunday and a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Resuming on the fourth day with only a four run lead and four wickets in hand, New Zealand managed to bat through all the first session thanks to Daryl Mitchell who made 84 as a lone rearguard and was the last man out.
Playing in just his third test, Brydon Carse took 6-42 for match figures of 10-196 as New Zealand was bowled out for 252 in its second innings, leaving England needing only 104 runs to win.
New Zealand managed to claim the wicket of Zak Crawley (1) in the second over of England’s innings, then Ben Duckett when the tourists were was 55-2 to create a little suspense before the end.
But Jacob Bethell who made an unbeaten 50 from 37 balls, his first half century in his debut test, and Joe Root, who scored 23 after a first innings duck, saw England to 104-2 in only 12.4 overs at a run rate of over eight runs per over. The victory came with more than a day and a half to spare. England’s win was made possible by Harry Brook whose innings of 171 in partnerships of 151 with Ollie Pope (77) and 159 with Ben Stokes (88) propelled England to 499 in its first innings in reply to New Zealand’s 348, a lead of 151. Carse had three wickets by the end of the third day and took three more Sunday to become the first Englishman since Monty Panesar in 2012 to take 10 wickets in a test overseas. England was in a strong position from the first day when, after winning the toss, it had New Zealand 319-5 at stumps on a pitch at Hagley Oval which offered pace and bounce on all four days.
Kane Williamson held the New Zealand innings together with 93 while Tom Lathan (47) and Rachin Ravindra made solid starts but didn’t go on. Young off-spinner Shoaib Bashir took 4-69, bowling 20 overs in an unusually heavy workload for a spinner on the first day at Hagley Park.
On day two, Glenn Phillips completed a half century and finished 58 not out as New Zealand reached 348.
Using Bazball principles, England added 180 in 33 overs on the third day at almost six per over.
New Zealand then slumped to 64-3 early in its second innings, losing Devon Conway, Latham and Ravindra cheaply. Williamson made 61, compiling half centuries in both innings for the 10th time in his career.
But New Zealand was 155-6 at stumps on day three and while Mitchell’s gallant effort on the last day was impressive, it ultimately came in a lost cause.
The second test begins at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Friday. (AP)
