New Zealand lost the first Test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch by an overwhelming eight wickets after Brydon Carse claimed his Test-best figures of 6 for 42, making him the first England seamer to take ten wickets abroad in sixteen years. Jacob Bethell then finished the match with an undefeated fifty on debut.
New Zealand quickly lost their final goal of 104 in just 12.4 overs, despite Daryl Mitchell’s tenacious innings of 84 from 167 balls, with 45 runs coming from a fierce tenth-wicket partnership with the unwavering Will O’Rourke. Joe Root finished his 150th Test with an equally fluid 22 not out from 15, while Ben Duckett led the assault with anarchic innings of 27 in 18 balls.
Bethell administered the coup de grâce with a remarkable precocity, scoring 50 not out off 37 balls with eight fours and a six in England. He achieved his first half-century with the winning pull shot to deep square leg.
At least cloudless skies and a 49-over ball welcomed them, two things that convinced Ben Stokes to shoulder the hard yards during the day’s first spell, albeit with unexpected consequences. New Zealand’s hopes had been slim at the beginning of the fourth day, as they resumed with a four-run lead and just four wickets remaining.
He surrendered the remainder of the over to Gus Atkinson after he pulled up uncomfortably in the middle of his fifth over, which doctors subsequently determined to be due to lower back stiffness.
After the injury problems that marred his recent tour of Pakistan, it was a concerning undertone to an otherwise positive day for his team in England. He continued to play until the lunch break and later insisted at the post-match presentations that he would be fine for next week’s second Test at Wellington.
Carse had already torn the heart out of New Zealand’s fight at the time of that setback. He clearly shows that he is not afraid of hard work and, as demonstrated on his debut in Multan, brings life to even the most unforgiving surfaces with his authentic attitude and raw energy in action.
For his 21 runs, Nathan Smith had appeared steady, moving firmly into line with the short balls and even hitting consecutive boundaries when Carse veered too full in his opening over.
But he was unable to respond to the day’s first seriously misbehaving ball, as Carse leaned back and jagged a sharp seamer back into Smith’s shin, causing the ball to stay low and result in a leg-sided lbw decision.
Carse had his second of the morning and his fifth of the innings four balls later, leaving New Zealand at 192 for 8, with a lead of just 41 at that point. The wider length also did Matt Henry in, this time with a quick, inswinging ball that hammered him in the midsection and leg. He left without considering a review.
With five innings to reach his century and 93 Test sixes under his belt, he duly connected twice in three balls with two lustful strokes over the leg-side off Atkinson.
However, Root held onto a wonderful tumbling catch at wide long-on, and the same bowler ended the fun with his 11th after slapping him on the helmet with his second ball.
After reaching his half-century from 132 balls with only O’Rourke at number 11 for company, Mitchell felt it was time to pick up the pace. After that, players delivered a variety of T20 strikes, including Chris Woakes’ lap through fine leg and Shoaib Bashir’s signature launch down the ground for six.
As the umpires ruled for an additional half-hour before lunch, the margin had pushed above 100. At that juncture, England’s mind may have wandered to another iconic tenth-wicket partnership at Christchurch, Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns’ 222-run assault in 2002.
In his second over, he caused a mistake by launching another hefty length that Mitchell was unable to hit over Woakes at long range. He returned for another session.
With match numbers of 10 for 106, Carse exited the field with the highest of any England bowler to have played overseas since Monty Panesar at Mumbai in 2012–13. No England quick has ever achieved this since Ryan Sidebottom at Hamilton in 2008.
Following the postponed lunch break, England started their pursuit, and New Zealand fought for exactly 15 balls. Fresh off a first-innings duck, Zak Crawley duly poked a return catch in Henry’s opening over to go off for 1, the worst return an England opener has made since Mike Atherton made two at Johannesburg in 1999-2000. This continued his dismal record against New Zealand, which stands at 168 runs at 9.88 in 17 innings.
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