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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The gusts, which were blowing exclusively in one direction, came screaming into Wellington from the Cook Strait. At Basin Reserve, England easily defeated New Zealand in three days, earning their first Test series victory there since 2007–08. Despite being hit by Tom Blundell’s scorching hundred, they were unable to deviate from their route. The two hypothetical goals for New Zealand were to win by scoring 583 or to survive nearly nine periods for a tie.
Particularly after they had lost four wickets in the first 14 overs of their innings, neither was a popular ticket. Blundell’s response gave the card some credibility, although it didn’t significantly reduce the winning margin. Nathan Smith at No. 8 provided 42, which was the next-highest score for New Zealand. With an already significant advantage, England briefly displayed their ability to bat, which allowed Joe Root to reach his 36th Test century, before focusing on bowling out New Zealand a second time.
Ben Stokes himself concluded the match with three short-ball dismissals against the tail after Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse made the first cuts. Blundell provided the most resistance, hitting 13 fours and five sixes in an innings that, had he continued it for an additional hour, may have been compared to Nathan Astle’s historic attack in Christchurch in 2002. Although Ben Duckett deserves a lot of credit for anticipating Blundell’s effort to scoop and running around from slip to intercept it down the leg side at the second try after palming the ball up.
Shoaib Bashir was the bowler who ultimately saw Blundell out after taking a lot of punishment. When rain forced the players to have an early lunch, New Zealand was at 59 for 4, and Blundell may have been out third ball when play resumed. After Carse lost his thick outside edge at third slip to Jacob Bethell, Blundell was unstoppable, first in a firm combination with Daryl Mitchell and then with more recklessness as he and Smith hammered 96 from 82 balls.
Though it might not have changed the outcome, Blundell’s fifth Test century, which he achieved just after the tea break after a 22-month run in which he averaged 13.52 from 14 Tests with one half-century, was nonetheless a noteworthy personal achievement. New Zealand ran up the white flag when Bashir was dismissed, his second wicket after that of Glenn Phillips in the afternoon session.
In his final Test match at Basin Reserve, Tim Southee perished swinging to leg after Smith gloved a pull behind and Matt Henry hit Stokes’ fourth delivery into the hands of the diving Bethell at deep midwicket. At that point, England was happy to wait for victory to come to them, but they had started the day quickly, with Root running to his hundred before Stokes’ announcement allowed them to defeat New Zealand’s top four before lunch.
In fact, only in the classic Durban Test of 1939 had more runs been made, regardless of the outcome, and no side had ever successfully chased down more than 418 in the fourth innings in a Test. The magnitude of the challenge for New Zealand was highlighted by the fact that there were still more than three full days remaining in this competition. That only got worse when Woakes hit his sixth delivery while bowling into the wind.
There were many things to like about Woakes’ wobble-seam nip-backer that kissed the top of off, but Devon Conway may have made it appear better than it was by leaving a large space between bat and pad. With a kick that kicked high and left the New Zealand No. 3 with a narrow edge through to Ollie Pope, Woakes then won the coveted scalp of Kane Williamson. In his follow through to hold a return catch off a leading edge, Tom Latham fell to Carse, diving acrobatically to his right.
Before Carse had Rachin Ravindra moving behind him in an attempt to force a cut, Mitchell fired back a barrage of boundaries. The batter was staring up at the sky as the rain started to pour. With a record second-innings lead of 533 after two days of play, England had returned to the field in an unparalleled position of ease. Even though Root reached his hundred in just 6.1 overs, there was still time to play for milestones; Stokes then walked off with an undefeated 49.
Although Root had enjoyed a calm innings, he reached three figures in a very awkward manner, falling on his bottom while trying his famed reverse-ramp. Thankfully, the ball made enough contact with his gloved palm to get past Blundell and bounce away for four, enabling Root to grin impudently in celebration. The main event could start when he and Stokes stormed off after he was caught behind two balls later.
