The debut Test at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui saw the home side New Zealand defeat England by an innings and 65 runs in what can only be termed as a dominating performance.
New Zealand declared on 615/9 in reply to England’s 353, thanks to BJ Watling’s 205 and Mitchell Santner’s maiden Test ton, 126 runs. England folded for 197 runs in the second innings and lost the match quite comfortably.
Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson said that patience and application at the crease was key to the victory. Wicketkeeper BJ Watling’s 205-run innings lasted for 667 minutes and shared lengthy partnerships with Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme and Mitchell Santner.
“His application at the crease and his focus ... he faced nearly 500 deliveries which were an incredible effort. Just the patience to make good decisions for long periods of time, it was what the team required. (But) there was a huge amount of heart from that middle order to get us to the 600 mark. For them to keep making good decisions and bat for long periods of time and for 200 overs was an outstanding effort,” Williamson said.
England was made to field for 14 hours and their batsmen seemed exhausted while batting in the second innings, in which Neil Wagner picked 5/44 and the highest score was Joe Denly’s 35. The second Test match will be played at Seddon Park on Friday.
(Reuters inputs)
