There are multiple routes up Mount Maunganui. For magnificent views of Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty, take either the slow and steady base track or, for a quicker ascent, but requiring more effort, the summit track’s steep stairs.
Due to the recent rainfall from Cyclone Gabrielle, both paths were closed to the public until the first morning of this day-night series opener against New Zealand. Even so, it is not difficult to imagine the path this England team would have taken if the opportunity had presented itself this week.
On an opening day at Bay Oval, which saw spectators line its inviting grass banks and enjoy a festival atmosphere, this proved to be the case out in the middle, as the more challenging track inevitably results in more stumbles along the way.
England scored at a rate of five and a half runs per over after Ben Stokes lost a toss he was undecided about, consistent with their scoring rate over the previous nine months. Harry Brook led the charge with an 81-ball 89, following Ben Duckett’s equally robust 84 from 68.
Stokes changed his strategy in the final session as wickets dropped frequently and storm clouds gathered. At 325 for nine after 57.3 overs and with 90 minutes remaining under the lights. The England captain declared and instructed his seamers to make the pink Kookaburra sing.
England’s bold statement in New Zealand helps Anderson
Only Pakistan’s Intikhab Alam at Lord’s in 1974 had been dismissed earlier in a Test first innings (44.5 overs). And the result was a strong position. Ollie Robinson edged Tom Latham to short leg before Jimmy Anderson made it 21 years in a row of Test wickets by pinning Kane Williamson lbw and coaxing Henry Nicholls to edge to slip. The hosts finished on 37 for three.
Stokes was therefore vindicated, even though his team’s efforts to entertain and innovate did not always produce the desired results. Take Joe Root, who, after a low-key Pakistan tour, attempted a second reverse scoop off Neil Wagner on 14. But fluffed the contact and was caught at slip by Daryl Mitchell’s astute anticipation.
Stokes also skewed a front-foot pull to short mid-wicket on 19 to gift Scott Kuggeleijn the first of two wickets on debut, while Ben Foakes, the understated half of an 89-run sixth-wicket partnership with Brook, flapped at a short ball from Wagner on 38 as England lost four for 27 after the second interval.
Blair Tickner and Kuggeleijn, in addition to Wagner, who finished with four for 82. And Tim Southee, his captain, comprised two newcomers in the New Zealand attack. All four seamers conceded runs in gusty winds that were drying an initially green-tinged surface. As Duckett and then Brook nudged it.
Yorkshireman was playing with his opponents
Brook was aiming for his fourth century in his first seven Test innings, and after coming at the crease with the score at 153 for three after Ollie Pope was caught by Southee for 42, he crackled in whites as lightning flashed to the south.
At moments, the Yorkshireman was playing with his opponents, cutting Tickner either side of the deep point in consecutive deliveries. Reminiscent of a young Robin Smith, during his 43-ball half-century. The best of his 16 boundaries was without question a lofted straight six off Southee that was nearly flawless.
It appeared, not for the first time in Brook’s young England career, that he would break Gilbert Jessop’s 120-year-old mark for the fastest Test century by an Englishman – 76 balls – given his control. However, after reaching the second interval with 79 from 64 balls and England at 279 for five. He became somewhat disoriented.
Brook was hit in the jaw by a short-pitched ball from Wagner. Which he did not catch, and the onset of the floodlights likely played a part. In the subsequent over bowled by the left-arm, he was undone by another bumper, taking it on, under-edging on the ground, and then seeing the ball deflect onto the wickets via his backside.
Jessop was also mentioned previously when it appeared certain that Duckett would defeat him. That was the case until 15 minutes before the first break when he chipped Tickner to cover. Hawke’s Bay’s coffee store owner debutante cheered cyclone-ravaged regions.
Bold statement in New Zealand helps Anderson
Duckett punched and pulled both sides of the wicket to cement his top-order place, but his innings ended in disappointment. His half-century off 36 balls was also the joint-fastest by an England opener, alongside Stokes against West Indies in the bubble summer of 2020 – a third innings thrash up the order – and Zak Crawley against South Africa at the Oval last summer.
Here, the latter was not nearly as fluent. Instead, he walked down the field and shoved Southee, forcing him to collapse. He was dropped on the second ball of the encounter and bowled by Wagner’s beautiful front-foot no-ball.
Crawley’s day appeared to worsen when Devon Conway was dismissed on nine during the final push for wickets. This group is unconcerned with the occasional stumble on the path. Whereas previous England squads would have been aghast at the sight. When the ageless Anderson coaxed an edge out of Nicholls, a measure of redemption ensued.
