New Zealand have won the first Test match against England by an innings and 65 runs after a Neil Wagner five-for completed yet another woeful English batting performance.
After they collapsed to 3-55 in the evening session of Day 4, England went for a slow scoring rate, like they did at Headingley against Australia before Ben Stokes exploded.
This approach did work with 43 runs scored in the morning session for the loss of just one wicket – that of Joe Root, who steered a short ball to Tom Latham at gully.
The first ball after lunch was beautifully clipped to the boundary by Stokes, who formed a 50 partnership with Joe Denly. That is the end of what went well in the innings for England.
Firstly, Stokes dragged one off Tim Southee straight into off stump. The worst part about this wicket was that he didn’t even need to play at it as it was probably going to whistle through to the wicketkeeper BJ Watling.
Then, Denly feathered one with his glove, which then went through to the keeper.
Not long afterwards, Ollie Pope departed after he was sensationally caught out by Mitchell Santner, who took all three wickets of England’s collapse on Sunday afternoon, diving to his left to take the catch. Santner has had a brilliant Test match with bat, ball and in the field. Watling was preferred for man of the match, though – his double century got the runs that put New Zealand ahead.
Jos Buttler’s wicket was horrendous. He went for the leave, only for the ball to clatter into his off stump. If they weren’t staring down the barrel of defeat already, England certainly were at 8-138, more than 100 runs from simply getting New Zealand to bat again.
Jofra Archer and Sam Curran did put on a 50 partnership for the ninth wicket but it couldn’t even get the tourists to 200 runs. Neil Wagner got two wickets in the final two balls to first get Archer out, pulling straight to Matt Henry on the boundary, before trapping Stuart Broad LBW first ball. England were all out for 197. New Zealand had won by an innings and 65 runs.
England have thrown everything bar the kitchen sink in terms of the batting line-up. However, they still seem to have no idea how to bat for long periods of time even though they got a good first innings score of 353. The bowling is all over the place, especially with the tactical misuse of Jofra Archer.
(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
He cannot be used as one of the two main bowlers because, over time, his speed will diminish and he will just become a standard pace bowler with no speciality whatsoever.
The final Test match of the series in Hamilton gets underway from Friday, continuing until next Tuesday.
New Zealand will be hoping to outclass England in another great all-round performance, as seen this week in Mount Maunganui.
England’s problems are a long way from being completely solved.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
You've read all the articles Paul so hopefully you'll have seen my changing emotions through the test match (from the highs of that reasonable innings from England on day 1 to the lows of the wonderful innings from New Zealand on days 3 and 4 and the English collapse on days 4 and 5). Of course, let's not take anything from that fantastic all-round performance from the Black Caps but there is no question in the fact that England could have drawn the match (theoretically at least). Yet again, it seems as if nobody can bat in a way that is required in test cricket. Pope's shot was definitely an unnecessary one to play. Agreed on your point about Root. In another comment, I suggested Stokes as captain but Broad would also be a good captain. Root's batting might improve with a bit of pressure lifted off him if he relinquishes the captaincy but it didn't really help Cook's batting near the end of his career after he stopped being captain. If Root's batting improves then there will be less pressure on the middle order as it has seemed to be down to them to get the score as high as possible when that should be the job of the opening batsmen. Burns and Sibley, I think, are a great opening pair and shouldn't be changed for the next test. They were caught out by Santner's excellent spell, after all. One thing's for certain, things need to drastically improve in the Hamilton test match.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Here's hoping. Virat showed what last summer what a solid technique can achieve.
Sounds like a good contest between bat and ball then. Add in the pink ball prone to a bit of swing in the evening, and has the makings of a good test match.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Perth Stadium wicket so far has shown both lateral movement and some inconsistency in bounce. Bounce: has required batsmen to be cautious and not just assume a wider ball can be played square from a consistent height. Line: balls on the pads/wicket or just outside off have to be treated with caution due to movement either way. Be blase at your peril as a batsman. Take time to work out the quirks of the pitch and then one should be ok. Which team will have the patience? Of course the "new" drop-in is still maturing, but the Aus A game showed what pre-conceived expectations can result in for the batting side. The pink ball/evening session is adding yet another dimension. Swing bowlers may benefit (Southee) with limited airflow, but still enough to aid movement through the air.
The old Perth became a road, and I've seen opposition fast bowlers chewed up and spat out after bowling to much short stuff. However, I have no idea what the "new" Perth wicket is like.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Yeah but it still doesn't bode well for South Africa :unhappy:
Jeff
Roar Rookie
That was a crazy good catch.
dungerBob
Roar Rookie
Any bowler can have days like that. It's all a part of the process of becoming a seasoned test player. I reckon his languid looking action fools people into thinking he's not having a go. Well, I remember him looking pretty relaxed when he was bowling at 96 mph. He was certainly having a go then.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Look, he was trying - it was obvious that he was trying - but I think tiredness took over as well as the annoyance of bowling all these overs and not getting any wickets. Archer is not supposed to be used as a main bowler, as I have said in the report, and his bowling will not get any better if he is continued to be misused. England's bowling is stuffed... 'They can't bat, they can't bowl, they can't field'
dungerBob
Roar Rookie
Any ideas on what went wrong with Archer? I've seen some reports that said he bowled pretty well but without luck while others said that he seemed to be tanking it. They can't both be right. Or can they.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
It's just a continuation of his poor Ashes form, DTM. Nothing will be done as of yet because Root came out at the end of the match and said that there was no need to panic! The current VC is Ben Stokes - I think he's quite good in a leadership role but it's whether he wants a full-on leadership role as captain. I would say James Anderson but he's getting to the end of the career so might not be a good move so I'd say Stokesy would be a good captain. We'll have to see how it goes - England return to WTC action on Boxing Day with the first test against South Africa. To be honest, with you, DTM, after rambling on for this long, I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen and what England are going to do - they've just had some personnel changes and to be fair, they had a good first two days of the test. If they can keep up the performance seen in those two days for five days then the problem should start to be fixed. NZ should (and I say should) give Australia a run for their money. We'll have to see how Smith does in Adelaide because he was the lowest-scorer in Brisbane! :laughing:
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Can't really comment too much on that Jeff, sorry, but I do know that the field was set for a wicket off Santner and there nearly were a few but the batsmen just managed to find a gap in the field (this was the morning session before it all hit the fan).
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
I knew it was coming - once an England innings goes down the drain, it usually continues going down the drain as quickly as possible. I was surprised that Buttler had his brain fade though - that was the image of England's inadequate batting.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
I was too dungerBob. I think it's a happy surprise and a lesson to be learnt really that I didn't forsee NZ getting over 600, especially from 4-150 odd. I would've preferred Santner for MoM personally as he did create the batting collapse on day 4 and got that fantastic catch to get Pope out on day 5, plus the century and all its sixes!
Paul
Roar Guru
You must have been desperately disappointed with the last few sessions of this Test, Joshua. England did well with the bat in the first innings but clearly didn't get it right with the ball. That plus some resolute batting from the Black Caps put the game out reach in terms of a win, but some of the shots and non-shots played in yet another sub 200 second innings, must have English selectors scratching their heads. You mentioned Jos Buttler's leave, but I thought the shot Pope played to get out was worse. I'm also wondering about Root as a captain, not tactically, but whether he's the right guy to lead the side right now? His batting's not in a great place and I think he's really feeling the pressure of a tough few years in charge. I seriously wonder whether Broad might not be a better option, allowing Root to focus on his batting, which will in turn help stabilise the middle order?
Tanmoy K
Guest
Luckily for England this Series is not included in the Test Championship, hence they're not going to lose any points.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
If it’s a Melbourne road (par for the course) it probably won’t matter. Could you have Ferguson and Southee in the same line-up for Perth? I’d like to see what Ferguson’s pace could do at Perth Stadium.
Riccardo
Roar Rookie
A lot depends on Trent's injury I guess and how Ferguson goes in Hamilton if they give him the gig. I think they might. Love to see Ferguson in Perth but the pink ball tends to swing more which might see Southee get the nod. Pretty sure that if Ferguson shows us some of the class we saw in England he'll play in Australia though. Melbourne?
DTM
Guest
England really has got to find a new captain. Not sure who gets the job but Root's batting is suffering and they can't afford for this form to keep up or he wont justify his spot as a batsman. Looking forward to the Aus/NZ tests - Aus slightly favoured because of a) Steve Smith b) maybe no Boult c) playing at home But NZ batting depth is better than ever.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Yeah it seemed that a draw would be likely, but then I also expected better than even odds of an England collapse. Fortunately they didn't disappoint as usual.