It was an enthralling day’s of Test cricket at Hagley Oval in Christchurch as New Zealand held on for a gripping draw to deny England a rare away victory. The trio of Colin de Grandhomme, Ish Sodhi and Neil Wagner ate 300+ deliveries to show precision and graft of the highest order.
New Zealand won the Test series 1-0 and it was their first against England since 1999. Interestingly, it was also their second ever series win at home against England. Their only other victory was in 1983-84.
What a final day of the season! Just New Zealand’s fourth Test series victory against England. #NZvENG pic.twitter.com/X8nG1I76dr
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) April 3, 2018
Set a target of 382, New Zealand started the day at 42/0 before losing two wickets of the first two balls of the play. Latham (83), Grandhomme (45) and Sodhi (56*) put their lives on the wicket and came out unscathed. England will rue the fact they could not pick all 10 wickets on the fifth day despite having the momentum.
ENGLAND’S AWAY TOUR A SAD STORY
The statistics don’t lie. Their winless Test tours continue to haunt Joe Root’s men. And courtesy of this series, they scripted an unwanted record in their history books.
- This was England’s 13th successive away Test without a victory which is their national record.
- It includes one against Bangladesh, five each against India and Australia, besides the two matches in this series.
With the next big Test assignment at home against India, England will be looking to get back to shape. But their away form is a worry. The humiliation at the 2017-18 Ashes was a telling story and now the series loss against the Kiwis was another blow to their bitter winter.
CREDIT TO KIWIS FOR GRINDING IT OUT
The application of the Kiwi lower order was a new chapter in Kiwi history as they deserved every bit of the success. Neil Wagner faced 103 deliveries for his 7 runs, Sodhi faced a 168 for his unbeaten 56. When bowlers come out and bat like champions, an example of the highest standard is set. This is what the duo did.
Five dropped catches in New Zealand’s 256 for eight, left Joe Root’s men with too much to do in the end.
TRENT BOULT DESERVES APPLAUDS
Left-arm pacer Trent Boult picked 15 England wickets in two Tests and was adjudged the man-of-the-series. The mastery of Boult’s swing and wickets at pivotal moments was the highlight of the series. He has quickly gone on to make a big name for himself along with the likes of Mitchell Starc and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in Tests.
A lot of the share goes to his strike-partner Tim Southee, finished with 12 scalps.The duo ended with 27 England wickets. They also picked all 10 English wickets twice in the series.
Player of the Match Tim Southee and Player of the Series Trent Boult. 📷= @PhotosportNZ #NZvENG pic.twitter.com/RMlBMWrYOE
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) April 3, 2018
ANDERSON, BROAD A LEAGUE ABOVE THE REST
James Anderson and Stuart Broad have picked 47 wickets on tour in 2017/18. It is 13 higher than all other English bowlers combined. This picture defines what has gone wrong with England. The support bowlers have not managed to back the duo and the pressure has been monumental for these two England greats.
Despite all the issues, they duo bowled well throughout and set an example for the others to follow. Its time the management need to find the fix. Amidst all this, Anderson created another record. He broke Courtney Walsh’s record for most deliveries bowled by a pacer in Tests. Courtney had 30,019 deliveries and Anderson has risen to 30,074.