New Zealand vs England Series – 2nd Test: Day 1 Summary and Analysis

Toss won by: New Zealand elected to field first

1.   It was the second test between the two test playing nations; England and New Zealand. New Zealand had already won the first match of this two-match test series and were in a safe position. England on the other hand had all the pressure on them as they were at a potential risk of losing this series.

2.   England’s squad did not comprise of Mark Wood and Moeen Ali as they dropped because of their bad form. New Zealand on the other hand were pretty much went in with the same squad that they had in the first test.

3.   The toss was won by New Zealand and they chose to field first. England’s openers Cook and Stoneman set themselves on the crease.

4.   England openers had only one job to do and that was to give their team a good start but Trent Boult who was also man of the match of the last test claimed Cook’s wicket in the 3^rd over as the former England captain departed after scoring 6 runs.

5.   Mark Stoneman looked to build a partnership with James Vince but after only adding 32 runs on the board Vince was sent back by Southee who pinned him lbw.

6.   Joe Root was the new man in and as England’s captain he had the added responsibility to build a partnership from there on. Both Root and Stoneman defied the Kiwi pace attack for some time as they shared a partnership of 55- runs between them.

7.   But then was the turning point of the match as Boult and Southee claimed the wickets of Root, Malan of Stoneman in three successive overs and turned the match over his head.

8.   England were now in deep trouble as they had only scored 94 runs at this point with the loss of 5 wickets. However, England’s lower middle order batsmen showed some class as Stokes and Bairstow shared a partnership of 57-runs to stabilize England’s innings.

9.   England crossed 150 but then two wickets fell in quick succession and the Kiwi pair Boult and Southee removed Stokes and Stuart Broad. New Zealand were now hopeful that they would prevent England from scoring 250+ runs.

10.     But some classy batting from Mark Wood and Johnny Bairstow denied them this opportunity as the pair shared a 95-run partnership to get England past 250.

11.     Southee claimed the wicket the wicket of Mark Wood to claim five wickets in the 1^st innings. After that Bairstow and MJ Leach saw the Kiwis off as the day came to an end on 290/8.

12.     Day 1 saw exciting shifts in equilibrium; The Kiwis showed extraordinary talent of pace bowling while England’s lower middle order showed their batting prowess. Bairstow who is on 97* runs will look to complete his century while New Zealand will look to wrap England before any more damage is done.

13.     That is it for now. Do join us tomorrow for the 2^nd day of this test match.

AN Cook

MD Stoneman

JE Root (c)

DJ Malan

BA Stokes

JM Bairstow

MM Ali

CR Woakes

C Overton

SCJ Broad

JM Anderson

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JA Raval

TWM Latham

KS Williamson (c)

LRPL Taylor

HM Nicholls

BJ Watling

C de Grandhomme

TD Astle

TG Southee

N Wagner

TA Boult

Tim Southee

Ish Sodhi

Trent Boult