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Despite losing two sessions to rain on the fourth day, and under threat of more bad Yorkshire weather on the last day, a disciplined and relentless New Zealand comprehensively outplayed England to score a 199-run victory and ensure a tied series at 1-1.
What had been an evenly contested match – 350 runs each in the first innings is as tight as it gets – started to swing New Zealand’s way on the third afternoon, accelerating on the fourth morning, until the pendulum jammed hard in the Black Caps’ favour throughout the final day.
Captain Brendon McCullum copped plenty of stick for what was an overly aggressive approach in the first Test at Lords, turning a winning position into a losing one, seemingly not being interested in fighting out a draw.
To their credit, England were good enough to take advantage and the win, and so took plenty of confidence with them to Headingly. But this has clearly been shown up for what it really was, a false dawn against a superior side.
It was McCullum who provided the impetus for this victory, ironically not via his trademark of thrashing bowlers to all parts, but with a solid, responsible innings which blunted the England attack at a key point, providing the platform for the rollicking lower-order batting which took the game right out of England’s hands, leaving them an impossible 455 to win in the final dig.
At 141 for 4, the loss of either McCullum or BJ Watling at this point may well have meant a chase of around 250 instead – an entirely different proposition. But this was batting of the highest quality; mature and sensible, exactly right for the situation.
Not being part of the World Cup one day squad, Watling is little known in Australia, but after his impeccable 120, his fourth century in 30 Tests, he will be one to watch with interest in the upcoming series in Australia.
Growing in confidence, as if he needs any more, McCullum’s every move on the final day seemed to pay dividends. He bowled Boult in tandem with off-spinner Mark Craig, and both conspired to take the top off the England innings, taking two wickets each for the addition of only 18 to the overnight total of 44.
Boult was his smooth, impressive self, testing all of the left handers with swing on or just outside the off stump, and while Craig was less consistent, one always sensed that a wicket taking ball was close at hand.
With the arrival at the crease of Ian Bell, the first right-handed batsman, Craig’s demeanour picked up noticeably, McCullum duly rushing fieldsmen in to crowd the bat. One of those being Kane Williamson, who had no time to settle at leg slip before Bell inexplicably flicked the first ball straight to him.
As if that wasn’t hard enough for England supporters to comprehend, Joe Root clipped his second ball straight into the chest of Tom Latham at short leg. Instead of the ball rebounding off his body Latham did a remarkable job of clasping it in tight, and Root was on his way.
Which left the wintry weather and skipper Alastair Cook, cruising through 9,000 Test runs, as the only significant barriers to a New Zealand victory.
McCullum’s typically left-field solution was to turn to part-time off spinner Williamson. Cook played for the bounce and turn of Craig, only to find one skid through lower and straighter, and with that it was only a matter of time as the New Zealand bowlers worked through the remainder of the batting.
Williamson ended with 3 for 15 off 7 overs, a telling contribution following his ICC enforced absence from the bowling crease for remedial work to his action, and a paltry match aggregate of 6 runs with the bat. He was undone by two good deliveries, but it is hard to imagine too many more double failures in future Tests.
Matt Henry and Tim Southee were used more sparingly, but each contributed with important wickets, capping off what was a true team performance. In fact with either bat or ball, every single New Zealand player made a significant contribution to the game at some point.
For England’s part, they now head into an Ashes series with serious concerns over key batsmen, Gary Ballance and Bell in particular, with few obvious replacements waiting in the wings. Moeen Ali also is yet to convince as a Test quality spinner.
A couple of talking points emanating from the match are worth attention – the first being the ridiculous ICC ranking system which had New Zealand at number three entering the series, retained them at number three for drawing the series, but which would have seen them drop to seventh had they not been able to finish off the England tail or had weather intervened on the final day.
They would have been replaced at number three by England – patently a nonsense based on what we have seen from both sides over recent months and in this series.
Contributing to this is the fact that New Zealand were so scantily prepared for a Test series. Only two warm up games were played, with key players missing both, because they were otherwise engaged at the new spiritual home of cricket, the IPL.
Perhaps we should be thankful that Test cricket is still alive at all with the amount of cricket played by today’s top players, in all its various forms. No doubt such compromise and half preparation is both a sign of the times and a reality check for the future.
Finally, calling these two matches a series at all seems nigh on ridiculous. Both matches were chock full of high quality, entertaining cricket, with healthy run-rates around four and five runs per over. With not a single unsavoury moment between the two sides. Yet it is over seemingly as quickly as it has begun.
Certainly this frustration was shared in the commentary box by Messrs Gower, Botham and Hussain, immediately following the fall of the last wicket, and it will be a massive anticlimax to head straight from here into yet another meaningless one-day series.
New Zealand were a too ordinary side for too many years to expect boards to immediately roll over and accommodate them with full Test series. But on the other hand, administrators should be nimble and flexible enough to recognise when they have a good prospect on their hands, and get on with scheduling more appropriately.
With so much money and self-interest at stake India, Australia and England will no doubt continue to prioritise their own series within their exclusive little club. But to pay lip service to other sides like South Africa and New Zealand does them no credit and the game no justice.