On Day 2 of the first Test between New Zealand and England at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, the match took an exciting turn. Not Joe Root, but Harry Brook named the day in England’s favour by scoring a century. It wasn’t a great start for the visiting team, Zak Crawley and Joe Root didn’t get out early on 0. Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope scored runs with Harry Brook, and gave stability to the English innings. The weather was mostly good, with a bit of cloud cover, and the pitch provided good bounce, making for an interesting day of cricket. Here’s a simple breakdown of the key moments and highlights of the second day.
Performance of both team at Day 2
Here is the England Scorecard of the day 2 –
| Batter | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | Dismissal |
| Zak Crawley | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | lbw b Matt Henry |
| Ben Duckett | 46 | 62 | 6 | 0 | 74.19 | c Conway b William O’Rourke |
| Jacob Bethell | 10 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 29.41 | c Tom Blundell b Nathan Smith |
| Joe Root | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | b Nathan Smith |
| Harry Brook | 132 | 163 | 10 | 2 | 80.98 | Batting |
| Ollie Pope (wk) | 77 | 98 | 8 | 0 | 78.57 | c Glenn Phillips b Tim Southee |
| Ben Stokes (c) | 37 | 76 | 4 | 0 | 48.68 | Batting |
Total: 319-5 (74 overs)
New Zealand’s Performance on Day 2
Black Caps innings wasn’t upto to the mark while compared with England batting. Nathan Smith took 2 wickets. They have dropped few catches in the field as well. The best part is, that New Zealand has taken few early wickets, puts pressure on the English batting, but Brook and Pope’s partnership of 150 runs, Brook and Stokes partnership, which is still going has take the England team ahead of their opponents in the game.
New zealand bowling performance on Day 2 –
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | NB | WD | ECO |
| Tim Southee | 16 | 4 | 54 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.4 |
| Matt Henry | 15 | 4 | 50 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.3 |
| Nathan Smith | 18 | 0 | 86 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4.8 |
| William ORourke | 16 | 1 | 82 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 |
| Glenn Phillips | 9 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.9 |
England’s Performance on Day 2
After early wickets, Harry Brook and Ollie Pope’s partnership gave stability to the England’s innings, they have a partnership of 150 runs, once pope got out, Ben Stokes came to the crease and at the end of the day both Brook and Stokes are still playing with 97 runs partnership. Need to see how both the batters will start tomorrow’s game in the morning.
Key Players:
- Kane Williamson (NZ) – Williamson was New Zealand’s backbone with the bat, playing a patient and stylish knock of 93 runs. He guided his team to a somewhat competitive total and showed great skill against the England bowlers.
- Ben Stokes (ENG) – The England captain led his team well, stopping Blackcaps at 380 runs. Today he batted patiently and need to see what his performance will be tomorrow.
- Brydon Carse (Eng) – He has taken wickets of the opponent team, ending their innings today’s morning.
- Shoaib Bashir (ENG) – Bashir’s brilliant delivery to dismiss Blundell and his overall control of the ball made him one of the standout performers in the evening session.
Looking Ahead to Day 3
England will be aiming to take a big lead on New Zealand. They have 5 wickets in hand and Harry Brook and Ben Stokes are still on the crease. With the pitch still providing some bounce, England will need to make sure they take full advantage of the conditions.
New Zealand has scored 348 runs in the 1st innings, Brydon Carse and Shoaib Bashir has taken 4 wickets each. Glenn Phillips remains the not out at the end of the innings as well.
For day 3, England will be aiming to take a big lead over New Zealand. On the other hand, the Blackcaps will come up with a strategy to end the English batter’s innings as early as possible.
Fans of both teams can follow the match closely for more updates, and those interested in live scores and match details can check out the official site 96in.com, where they can log in to stay up to date with the latest news.