Watch cricket video highlights of New Zealand tour of England 2024. 2nd Test between New Zealand and England. Venue of the match will be Wellington.
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Preview
After winning the toss and bowling on what appeared to be a greentop on the first day in Christchurch, England may be alerted by the calm conditions they encountered. Two days before the Test, Chris Woakes remarked, “This Wellington deck is green, but I’m not sure if it’s as green as what last week was.” With a hint of brown in spots, it appears to be drying out even more and will probably be packed with runs, based on what happened during England’s most recent trip to Wellington.
Speaking on match eve, Latham stated that, based on this year’s first-class games, he didn’t think the ground would turn. Jordan Cox’s wicketkeeping substitute, Ollie Robinson (the Durham version), has arrived in New Zealand, but it appears that his quest for a proper passport will have been in vain. Two days prior to the match, England named an unchanged starting lineup, with Ollie Pope proving to be more than capable behind the stumps, as he did against Pakistan in 2022 under similar dire circumstances.
When you combine his crucial 77 from No. 6 with Jacob Bethell’s explosive debut at No. 3, England appears to have found a useful balance in the face of hardship. While Stokes is anticipated to be able to bowl following a mid-over back niggle in New Zealand’s second innings, England has chosen not to rotate their seamers. New Zealand is concerned about more than just their catching. It wouldn’t hurt to have a more robust all-around batting contribution supported by significant runs from Conway and/or Blundell, nor would it hurt to have Southee settle into his rhythm.
However, in keeping with skipper Tom Latham’s conclusion following their loss in Christchurch that no significant change in strategy was necessary, the hosts have chosen to field an unchanged squad for this second Test. There’s still a lot to digest from that final, incredible match between England and New Zealand at Wellington, twenty-one months later. Even the defeated James Anderson grinned at the ridiculousness of it all after he gloved another bumper from the unstoppable Neil Wagner to limp off to a defeat by the narrowest of margins.
The large crowd at the Basin Reserve had been invited in for free to watch one of the most spectacular finishes in Test history. It was both the greatest and possibly the worst of Bazball. Complete dedication to the goal of exciting and captivating Test cricket, but also the first instance of Brendon McCullum’s charges going “too far” in their investigation of the boundaries of attacking cricket after imposing an unnecessary follow-on that caused them to lose control of the game.
Ben Stokes stated, “We look at the bigger picture of what everyone’s enjoyed and seen here today,” following the defeat. “It’s probably bigger than the disappointment at the moment.” Do they still have the audacity to be that indifferent to Test failures? Following that setback, England suffered two more losses from winning positions in the 2023 Ashes. Prior to their triumph in the first Test match at Christchurch last week, they had won seven of their 14 2024 games and lost seven.
It’s obvious that something has hardened in the meantime since Stokes began that match by apologizing to his team once more for losing his temper during their 2-1 series loss in Pakistan. He is currently saving his rattiness for the ICC’s overrated adjudicators, which is unlikely to help him much on the WTC front but could provide a more motivating outlet for his annoyances. What may have happened, though, if New Zealand had maintained their chances in Christchurch?
Given that five of those came off the bat of the “jammy” Harry Brook, it’s no surprise that the remainder of that match was one-way traffic. England’s first innings saw an incredible eight drops, meaning the teams are likely all-square in the generosity stakes currently. Despite the let-offs, Brook’s 171 was a powerful knock that raised his New Zealand record to exactly 500 runs at 100.00. But now he’s back at the location of what may have been his most obtrusive knock to date.
Similar to last week’s achievement, his first innings of 186 in 2023 started with England in a precarious position at 21 for 3, as Tim Southee and Matt Henry tore off the top-order in 40 balls. However, there was one-way traffic for the remainder of a shortened opening day. Brook would undoubtedly have soared over his double-century then and there, and who knows, maybe that Multan triple-century wouldn’t have been his first too, had the rain not lopped off 25 of the day’s overs while he was sitting pretty on 184.
Kane Williamson’s menacing form upon his return from a groin strain was extremely encouraging in that sense. New Zealand recovered then, as they can now. However, their shortcomings at Christchurch went beyond their mistakes in the field. Even though Devon Conway played a significant role in that historic series victory in India, his average of 21.10 over the previous 12 months is concerning, and Tom Blundell’s form is even worse. Since that historic victory in Wellington, when his crucial 90 helped turn the tide, he has only managed one fifty in 25 innings.
Then there is the issue of Tim Southee, who is nearing the end of his incredible Test career but is clearly the weak link in Christchurch, as Ben Duckett and Brook alternately take him out. He did, however, still have his moments, especially during that window of opportunity early in England’s first innings when the ball was making a lot of noise and the clouds had settled. Their inconsistent performances this season have not sufficiently refuted England’s shortcomings against the moving ball, whether they are spin in Asia or seam and swing elsewhere.
If there is a possibility for New Zealand to get back into the series, it will undoubtedly be on a decent length and right out of the gate. We already knew from Brydon Carse’s impressive performances in Pakistan that England was a serious contender after his ten-wicket haul at Christchurch. His ferocity and pace were unrelenting once more, and his penetrating performances in both innings were hardly affected by his accuracy. His 10-wicket haul capped an incredible comeback after the summer betting ban that prevented his debut from happening sooner.
It was similar to that of Ryan Sidebottom at Hamilton in 2008, the last England seamer to take ten wickets in an overseas Test. The difficulty of supporting last week’s efforts will be substantial even though his three-month absence may have been a gift in disguise because he has entered these winter tours with a freshness that Gus Atkinson may not have after his summertime achievements. Will O’Rourke could have produced numbers comparable to Carse’s if he had been a little luckier.
Although he is not as tall as the much-missed Kyle Jamieson, who is currently out for a year due to another stress fracture, he made excellent use of his 6’4 frame in Christchurch, generating speeds of over 145 kph to harass England’s hitters to a far greater extent than his 2 for 165 match haul would indicate. Even though he had 104 to defend the second time, he hit with his first ball to remove a raging Ben Duckett and came very close to giving Joe Root his maiden Test pair. Three of those eight first-inning catches fell off his bowling.
Even when the runs were flying in the victory charge, nobody was ever really at ease with his quick pace and bounce. The least he deserves is a clean slate and a fair wind at Wellington.
