NZ vs ENG 2nd Test: Harry Brook, bowlers put England on top on Day 1 in Wellington

England finished Day 1 of the second Test well on top against New Zealand who were 86/5 at stumps trailing by 194 runs at Basin Reserve, Wellington on Friday, December 6. After being put in to bat first, England were bundled out for 280 with Harry Brook top scoring with 123. Nathan Smith was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand with figures of 4/86 in 11.4 overs.

The day began with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett opening the innings for England but could only add 12 runs for the first wicket as Matt Henry (2/43) got Duckett caught at second slip. Zak Crawley also fell prey to Henry for 17 losing his stumps against the Kiwi seamer. Daryl Mitchell took a one-handed blinder at first slip to get rid of the in-form Joe Root dismissing him for 3 (7) after Nathan Smith found his outside edge.

NZ vs ENG 1st Test Day 1 Highlights

Smith further got rid of Jacob Bethell (16) to leave England in all sorts of trouble at 43/4 in 12.5 overs. After a flurry of wickets, England found two reliable batters in Harry Brook and Ollie Pope who turned the tide on the opposition with their attacking strokeplay.

The duo added 174 runs for the fifth wicket off 158 balls to keep the scoreboard moving. Brook went on to score second century of the series with his belligerent knock of 123 (115) with the help of 11 fours and five sixes. Pope also scored a brilliant 66 (78) and helped England cross the 200-run mark. William ORourke (3/49) brought New Zealand back in the game by dismissing Pope and captain Ben Stokes (2) while Brook was run out by Nathan Smith.

England lose wickets in clusters in last session

England were bundled out 280 in 54.4 overs with Nathan Smith being their chief destroyer. In reply, New Zealand also lost their opener Devon Conway (11) early in the innings who flashed hard against Gus Atkinson and was caught by Harry Brook. After the early blow, captain Tom Latham and Kane Williamson calmed the nerves down with their 35-run stand.

However, their partnership came to an unfortunate end with the golden-arm of Stokes making Latham chop one back onto his stumps. It all went downhill for the hosts in the final hour of play with England getting the big scalp of Rachin Ravindra (3). Brydon Carse (2/28) also got rid of Kane Williamson (37) and Daryl Mitchell (6) to further pile on the misery for New Zealand leaving them on 79/5. William ORourke and Tom Blundell batted out the remaining overs and took their team to stumps without any more casualties.