Despite this disruption in the space-time continuum, England’s white-ball captain, Test vice-captain-elect, and man who doesn’t allow situation dictate his strategy, Harry Brook, was there to make light of it. In response to this severe hardship, he hit each of his first 36 runs in boundaries. This led to a stunning lone-wolf innings of 135 from 101 balls, which prevented an imminent humiliation and instead produced a respectable 223 in 35.2 overs.
The Bay Oval was blown over by a powerful westerly wind on Sunday afternoon. The sound of mocking laughter might have been heard clearly across the Tasman Sea and down through the shires of Hobbiton if you had cocked your ear to the breeze during the first hour of play.
In a match that was supposed to mark the formal beginning of the Ashes phoney war, England’s top-order, which was headed to Australia, was making an incredible false start. Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, and Jacob Bethell—all Ashes bankers, bolters, and, as the Australians would now argue, bottlers—were all involved in a disastrous collapse of 10 for 4 in 5.1 overs, which was just as serious as the conversation it would spark.
Jos Buttler soon followed at 33 for 5, and it was a sign of the absurd situation that, due to the oddities of daylight-saving time, it was 1.59am in the UK when Sam Curran took the fourth wicket at 56 for 6 in Zak Foulkes’ incredible debut in ODI cricket. This was one minute before the match had started.
Following three hundreds in two prior Test visits, it was Brook’s fourth century in the nation.
Under the circumstances, it was even more remarkable than his 186 at Wellington in 2023, which is enough to say something to those who saw that surge. He hit nine fours and eleven sixes, including three consecutive off Jacob Duffy to complete his century off 82 balls. He then hit four more as he squeezed 80 runs from England’s last two wickets in an innings where no one other batsman scored more than six.
After Foulkes and Matt Henry had hammered their way through 15 consecutive new-ball overs, Jamie Overton came in with 46 from 54 balls in a seventh-wicket stand of 87 that helped New Zealand regain momentum. There were clear memories of his last encounter with New Zealand from his Test debut in 2022, when he had reached a nearly similar 55 for 6 and joined Jonny Bairstow in a career-high 97.
After chipping a slower ball from Duffy to cover, Overton missed another milestone in this innings. Brydon Carse then joined the procession of players heading to the Ashes by cutting his first ball straight to the returning Kane Williamson at point.
Mitchell Santner hadn’t even been certain if bowling first was the right course of action. With a brilliant inducker that will have brought back memories of Rory Burns’ disastrous start to the 2021–22 Ashes campaign, Henry’s opening ball of the match instantly dispelled any doubts by bowling Smith through the gate.
After Duckett was caught flinching outside off for two and Root jumped into a crazy drive and was bowled by extravagant seam movement, Foulkes ripped into the match and took both wickets in the opening over. After two overs, a jaffa also removed Bethell’s off-stump, and it appeared like there was no chance in hell that England’s innings would escape its downward spiral.
But Brook thought differently. He surpassed Robin Smith’s historic 167 not out against Australia in 1993 with 135 out of 223 runs, or 60.53% of England’s innings. That hit, however, had failed to prevent final defeat, which was concerning for England.
India
