58 All Out! Trent Boult Rips Apart England In 1st Test

Majestic, sublime and lethal was the manner in which Trent Boult bowled as he ripped apart England in the first Test at Auckland on Thursday. Both sides are playing a historic day-night Test and their first against each other and it turned out a miserable one for visiting England.
Records were broken, feats were achieved and England will feel let down after being in the thick of things. 58 all out in just one and a half hours! The Kiwis tussled and tossed English batsmen as Trent Boult (6/32) and Tim Southee (4/26) completed the rout in just 20.4 overs. It was simply a dream act!
The visitors were reeling at 23/8 at one stage and were on the brink of scripting the lowest Test score in an innings (26) by New Zealand n 1955. But credit to Craig Overton, who saved them the blushes with a 33-run knock and getting them to 58.
The visitors are already facing a prospect of a huge defeat after the madness they encountered against the Kiwi duo in the first session. New Zealand have already taken a commanding 117-run lead in the first innings after Kane Williamson struck an unbeaten 91 to steer his side to 175/3 at stumps.
England’s low batting records continue

1. This was England’s 6th lowest score in Test cricket.
2. Their lowest ever score is 45 against Australia in 1887.
3. This was also England’s fourth score in the 50s and their lowest ever total against New Zealand.
4. Prior to this, their lowest totals have come against Australia (3) and West Indies (2).

New record in Pink Ball Test

1. England scripted the lowest ever score in a pink ball Test.
2. This is the ninth day-night Test in the history of the game.
3. The earlier lowest score (68) in day-night Test was by Zimbabwe against South Africa in December 2017.

Boult gives a swing masterclass
The last time Trent Boult produced a masterclass was a stellar 7/34 against the West Indies in ODIs at Christchurch in December 2017. This time it was the longest format where batsmen huffed and puffed against a top quality seam bowling.
Boult is regarded as one of the best bowlers in world cricket, and the left-arm seam bowler lived up to the tag quite proudly leading his side to an emphatic conquest. Boult was a different persona on Day One and got his basics right. He used the conditions well and stuck to a fine length and line probing the ball away as the English batsmen were left bamboozled.
There was some movement in the air for the bowlers with the pink ball, but nothing too outrageous. Boult’s ability to bowl at the pace he does and to get the ball talking like that with conditions in his favor often shows how difficult it is to play against him.
This was Boult’s sixth five-wicket haul in Tests.

"Six wickets helps you loosen up nicely" – Trent Boult enjoyed a record day at Eden Park. #NZvENG pic.twitter.com/U1Ak9ncUL9

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 22, 2018

Five wickets of proper batsmen and a tail-ender in James Anderson, Boult’s 6/32 will be remembered for ages to come. Not many can swing the ball like Trent Boult and have pace in excess of 140 mph to give very little away to batsmen. With every wicket, he grew in confidence.
Boult notched his career-best Test figures as Tim Southee 4/25 supported him well. Be it Alastair Cook’s outside edge, or Joe Root’s inside edge, the two England kingpins were knocked over. It was more of the duo’s application on a pitch that had the batsmen fall short of an answer. Kane Williamson showed later on that there were no demons in the pitch.
England’s time at the crease lasted for one and a half hours as play started at 2:00 pm New Zealand time and the visitors were sent back to the hut by 3:33 pm.