Cricket: England dominate the first day of the second Test despite a strong start by the Black Caps

English 315-3

First day – stumps

For the first 30 minutes of the second test, this series felt different.

The resurgent Black Caps moved the ball around the green, the returning Matt Henry bowled an impeccable line, and the previously rampant England had seen their top three sent back to the pavilion.

Then Harry Brook walked to center, and the Test went back to blistering.

England regained command in the two-Test series against New Zealand today. He took a bit of a detour, but by the middle of the first day he arrived at the same destination in the Basin Reserve.

A day that began with a positive half-hour for the hosts ended with Brook and Joe Root striding off the field after unleashing a five-hour batting spell.

English supremacy was not disputed. With a total of 315-3 as play was curtailed by rain, Brook (184 no from 169 balls) and Root (101 no) put on 294 runs to form England’s second-highest stand against New Zealand, the Black Caps are eliminated from the series.

The opening day was much more even last week at the Bay Oval, where the home side took at least nine wickets before losing three of their own.

That day’s game continues to set the stage for England’s first Test win in this country since 2008. Unless the weather intervenes in Wellington, it’s unlikely they’ll be waiting long for another.

Its unlikely Brendon McCullums team will lose many matches at all when Brook is in this type of touch.

Two days into his 24th year, No. 5 entered the fray with one to beat. At 21-3 in the seventh over, Henry and Tim Southee bowled as if sharing curatorial duties on the Basin Reserve pitch, England, in trouble for the first time on this tour.

Fifty-eight overs later, the only danger lay with the fans in the first rows, with Brook hitting five sixes to mark another masterful knock in a young career that has already been blessed by a few.

The Yorkshireman bats with ferocity and judgment, using his legs to stay one step ahead of the bowlers and punish the bad ball – and plenty of decent balls.

He even hit with a little restraint, at least at first. It was almost necessary given the way Henry in particular started the match.

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In the 14th successive Test in Wellington, the captain, who won the toss, elected to bowl as Southee opted for the extra batsman despite the green top greeting him.

It was hard to blame the Black Caps for including Will Young alongside Henry for leaving out Blair Tickner and Scott Kuggeleijn. The first Test was lost with the bats; now they look short.

That performance caught on in the 10th over when Daryl Mitchell’s part-timers were believed to have England at the mercy of the hosts. They didn’t – he and Neil Wagner finished the day combining for 0-162 at a run rate of 6.2.

Henry faded, but was threatening at first. After missing the opening test for his daughter’s arrival, the 31-year-old looked more than ready to trade the newborn for a new ball.

In the first set, Henry’s line tried, got movement off the seam and hit the club. He earned the ball with a peach of a ball to Ben Duckett, but a failed review by the Black Caps didn’t reveal the nick.

In the second, Henry found a weak edge from Zak Crawley, and in the third, another unplayable delivery struggled straight to the top before an intervention from Ollie Popes sent it to Bracewell at second slip.

It was a crisp catch but a better one followed five balls later. Duckett conjured a driving attempt from Southee that flew through corden until Bracewell rose almost horizontally to somehow get a chance with his fingers on his left hand, to survive his forearm hitting the ground.

It was Southees 700th international wicket, second only to Dan Vettoris 705. Unfortunately, it was just as well for his team.

Brook enjoyed one early possession as his edge managed to find an opening for the slips, but it was a deflection. He crossed 50 for the seventh time in nine innings before England went to lunch on 101-3, a run rate of 3.88 compared to 5.83 in the first session at the Bay Oval.

The middle session was more of McCullums production. Brook quickened the momentum by smashing back-to-back sixes down off Mitchell, soon clipping Bracewell’s fence to reach 107 balls.

He took his strike rate past 100 by giving himself space and smashing Wagner to long-on to take England to 237-3. His partnership with Root reached 250 – in which the former conceded 77 – before reaching record ratios.

England’s highest fourth-point stand against New Zealand; then the highest for any opposition quarterback at Basin Reserve.

With the rain coming down and the covers ready, Root registered a 29th century, but the day belonged to one man.

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