Dominant Harry Brook hailed his "best century yet" after his stunning 184 not out put England in control of the second Test.
A fourth Test ton in just his ninth Test innings has put him ahead of even the great Don Bradman at his current scoring rate. No-one has ever scored more than his 807 runs so far from this few innings.
And he did so this time after England were in a little bit of trouble at 21-3 having been inserted by the Kiwis, only to join the great Joe Root, who scored his own brilliant ton, in adding an unbroken 294 for the fourth wicket.
“It’s definitely my best century yet because of the situation of the game," said Brook. “The ones in Pakistan were amazing and good fun to be out there but they were all on flat pitches.
“Today I wouldn’t say it was a flat pitch, it is a good cricket wicket, but it is not a flat pitch where you can just smack it everywhere. We lost three early wickets which wasn’t ideal but I came out and tried to counter-punch and be as positive as I could. Thankfully it paid off.
“I’ve just said in the dressing room that I’m having good times at the minute but just around the corner there might be bad ones so I've got to enjoy these moments and cash in as much as I can. One of the things I’ve worked on is staying level headed.”
There might be one or two people who disagree with Brook’s assessment on smacking it everywhere with his 184 coming from just 169 balls. Imagine what he might have got had he done so in his own mind.
If he really puts his foot down on day two there is every chance that he will not only score his first ever double century, but he could usurp Brendon McCullum’s triple hundred that he scored on the same ground against India in 2014.
But first there is a 22-year-old family record that Brook has his eye on, his dad’s 210 scored for Burley against Woodhouse in the Yorkshire leagues. “My highest score is 194 so beating my dad’s best is in the back of my mind at the minute,” said Brook.
“I was only two years old when my dad made that!’ But obviously I have to think about facing the first ball tomorrow first. I’ve never got a 200 before. It’s only the first day of a five-day Test. So there is no declaration coming, we just carry on batting, carry on the momentum in the next few days.”
