England went into this day-night Test calling the format a gimmick, but as Stuart Broad set off on one of his trademark surges, sending the Zing bails flying in the darkness and New Zealanders on their way, there was a sense it may be growing on them.
A run of five pink-ball defeats probably informed the pre-match stance but, equally, this is a team under Ben Stokes that cares little for history. That is unless it is Broad rolling out a few of the old hits, his four-wicket burst on the third evening in Mount Maunganui sending thoughts back to those giddy days of Trent Bridge, Johannesburg and the like.
New Zealand, set 394 to win this series opener, needed plenty to go their way during a two-hour examination under the lights. Instead, they found themselves popped in the blender and Broad gleefully pressing the button marked “frappé”, his figures of four for 21 from 10 overs leaving their scorecard a miserable-looking 63 for five at stumps.
Day-nighters are a bit of a gimmick, in fairness, but there is no question they produce some stunning visuals. Like the sight of Broad, white bandana flowing behind him and those knees a-pumping, nipping the pink Kookaburra around at will. He was relentless here, hunting the stumps and hitting the bullseye on all four occasions, with Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Tom Latham and Tom Blundell the men vaporised.
The first dismissal also meant Broad and Jimmy Anderson surpassed the record 1,001 wickets shared by Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in tandem. Broad was quick to stress the two Australians sit a level above in terms of quality but it is not hard to see why Ollie Robinson – who got rid of Henry Nicholls in the bedlam – is trying to soak up every shred of information while he shares a dressing room with England’s big two.
Credit goes to Stokes for reinvigorating the pair this past year, much like the team as a whole. Tim Southee had the advantage at the toss, but England responded with a truly collective performance that bent the day-night conditions in their favour. Never more so than when amassing 374 all out in 73.5 overs on the third day, an innings that blended their new attacking default with some smart manipulation.
Ollie Pope crackled for 49 runs and Joe Root top-scored with 57, while Harry Brook passed 50 for the sixth time in his first eight Test innings with a powerful 41-ball 54. But the canvas for Broad’s late demolition also owed plenty to Ben Foakes calmly chiselling out 51 from 80 balls which, allied with 31 from Stokes and Robinson’s 39, ensured New Zealand’s chase – whatever the final target – would start under lights.
Wickets did fall with enough regularity to give Southee the odd taste of Michael Corleone’s angst in the Godfather Part III. But save for some fine deliveries among Blair Tickner’s three for 55, New Zealand’s attack was largely devoid of guile. Little wonder there have been banners in the crowd imploring Trent Boult, 20 minutes down the road but a freelancer these days, to come back.
There were also more official signs that read “Stay safe and keep your eye on the ball” and once Neil Wagner had sent “Nighthawk” Broad the way of Speckled Jim first thing, it was advice well heeded. Six sixes flew into the burbling grass banks, with Pope first to take the aerial route in an early assault on Wagner that left the left-arm bumper merchant conceding 104 runs from his first 11 overs.
Beyond the hapless Wagner recreating Boult’s infamous stumble over the boundary in the 2019 World Cup final, the six that will doubtless have prompted the most chatter in after stumps came from Stokes. Coming in at No 8 after finding himself on the toilet at the fall of the fifth wicket, the all-rounder whipped Scott Kuggeleijn behind square to clear the rope for the 108th time in his Test career.
Brendon McCullum sat in the pavilion applauding, having promised the captain a bottle of red wine once his world record was broken. “It’s consuming his life,” he said, joking, when Stokes ended last year’s Pakistan tour on level terms. In a wine country like New Zealand, a decent drop should now change hands in the coming days.
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So much comes back to McCullum’s positive reinforcement, an example of which came after Root fell to a reverse scoop on day one. The head coach is said to have sought him out for praise straight afterwards, reminding Root of the runs the shot has delivered over the past nine months – plus the runs the subsequent deployment of a third man has then helped unlock elsewhere when teams respond.
Expect more to come, therefore, even if the shot once again brought about Root’s demise in the final over of an opening session when England trowelled 158 runs on to their overnight lead of 98. This time it was off the spinner, Michael Bracewell, when he feathered behind and the ball ricocheted off the wicketkeeper, Blundell, to first slip.
This England team are going to keep producing such moments, with conventional notions like playing for the interval having been frogmarched out of the door. At some stage, this approach will cost them. But given the results, and their miserable plight a year ago, it is becoming harder and harder to quibble.
