Key events
Here’s your day one report and reaction. We’ll be back tonight with day two.
We’ll have a match report along shortly. In the meantime, you can follow an even bigger game in Adelaide with Geoff Lemon.
Stumps: New Zealand trail by 194 runs
Are you not entertained? Sure, the over-rate was a shambles but that was a pulsating day at the Basin Reserve: 80.4 overs, 366 runs, 15 wickets.
England’s star was Harry Brook, who responded to top-order collapse by larruping 123 from 115 balls. Ollie Pope played excellently again to make 66, and then the seamers took over.
The last hour was all about the outstanding Brydon Carse. He bowled Kane Williamson with a no-ball, a potentially miserable moment that only served to make him even more dangerous. Carse took a brilliant catch to dismiss Rachin Ravindra, then picked up Williamson and Daryl Mitchell shortly before the close.
26th over: New Zealand 86-5 (O’Rourke 0, Blundell 7) Blundell gets off strike first ball, which means he’ll be back tomorrow barring some unforseeable fiasco.
England have four slips, two men at gully, a short leg, leg slip and leg gully for the nightwatchman O’Rourke. He’s beaten twice but survives the rest of the over. That was all sorts of fun.
25th over: New Zealand 85-5 (O’Rourke 0, Blundell 6) Blundell pads up to an inducker from Stokes that is this close to hitting the off stump. Apparently it missed by 9.9 centimetres.
England are all over New Zealand having taken the last four wickets for 32. Stokes makes sure there’s time for one more over from the rampant Carse.
24th over: New Zealand 84-5 (O’Rourke 0, Blundell 5) Almost another one! Blundell flicks Carse in the air and just wide of the flying Stokes at leg slip.
“Carse is something else isn’t he?” says Phil Harrison. “I’m calling it now – the 2025-26 series is Carse’s Ashes! Only half joking. He couldn’t be any more perfect for bowling in Australia.”
I can’t comprehend how good he’s been since his Test debut.
WICKET! New Zealand 79-5 (Mitchell c Pope b Carse 5)
Carse has struck again! He dug in an awkward armpit delivery to Mitchell, who pushed instinctively at it and gloved it down the leg side. Pope leapt to his left to take another good catch.
23rd over: New Zealand 79-4 (Mitchell 6, O’Rourke 0) Mitchell punches Stokes down the ground for his first boundary. With Williamson gone he is now the key man for New Zealand, especially after his return to form in the first Test.
22nd over: New Zealand 74-4 (Mitchell 1, O’Rourke 0) Will O’Rourke, in as nightwatchman, gets a taste of his own medicine when Carse nips one back to hit him amidships. It’s a wicket maiden for Carse, who is just so impressive.
It would have been so easy, natural even, to sulk after bowling Kane Williamson with a peach only to find out it was a no-ball. Instead, Carse has taken a brilliant catch to dismiss Rachin Ravindra and dismissed Williamson for real.
It was the second ball of a new spell, another beauty that pitched in the corridor and straightened appreciably off the seam. Williamson edged a defensive push and Ollie Pope dived to his right to take a very smart catch. Carse and his captain Ben Stokes scream in each other’s faces with delight. This guy is a sensation.
WICKET! New Zealand 74-4 (Williamson c Pope b Carse 37)
Brydon Carse dismisses Kane Williamson for the second time!
21st over: New Zealand 74-3 (Williamson 37, Mitchell 1) A quiet over from Stokes, three from it.
20th over: New Zealand 71-3 (Williamson 35, Mitchell 0) Woakes joins the no-ball club, though this time it doesn’t cost a wicket. Williamson continues to punish anything loose, driving an overpitched delivery from Woakes for three. He has 35 from 49 balls, the rest have 31 from 75 between them. And three of them are out.
19th over: New Zealand 67-3 (Williamson 32, Mitchell 0) I thought Carse might have changed ends – he was replaced by Woakes in the previous over – but it’s Stokes to continue. He has three slips and a leg slip for Mitchell, who times a couple of attacking strokes without beating the infield.
18th over: New Zealand 64-3 (Williamson 29, Mitchell 0) Harry Brook’s innings gets better with each falling wicket.
WICKET! New Zealand 64-3 (Ravindra c Carse b Woakes 3)
Brydon Carse can’t stay out of the game! He has just taken a superb catch to dismiss Rachin Ravindra and gives Chris Woakes his first wicket. Ravindra got a big inside-edge onto the thigh that looped up on the leg side. Carse charged in from midwicket and dived forward to take a brilliant two-handed catch just above the ground.
17th over: New Zealand 64-2 (Williamson 29, Ravindra 3) A few technical problems during that Stokes over, though you didn’t miss anything.
16th over: New Zealand 63-2 (Williamson 29, Ravindra 2) Williamson jumps up to force Carse through the covers for three, a high-class stroke to a ball of awkward length. Every run Williamson scores after that no-ball will hurt Carse, and he feels the sting when Williamson rifles four more through mid-off.
15th over: New Zealand 55-2 (Williamson 22, Ravindra 1) The cricket is rarely dull when New Zealand and England meet. Even with a dreadful over-rate we’ve seen 335 runs and 12 wickets today.
Stokes almost picks up No13 when Ravindra shoulders arms to a ball that whooshes past off stump. This should be a cracking last hour.
WICKET! New Zealand 53-2 (Latham b Stokes 17)
One captain dismisses another! Latham plays a nothing shot to a back-of-a-length delivery, bowled from round the wicket, and drags it back onto the stumps. He’s fuming with himself as he walks off.
14th over: New Zealand 53-1 (Latham 17, Williamson 21) Carse continues to harass Williamson, who defends a few deliveries and then knocks a single off the hip.
Carse’s top speed in this three-over spell is 92mph, which might be the fastest delivery of his short Test career. Untimely no-balls aside, he looks so good right now.
Williamson bowled off a no-ball!
It was a stunning delivery from Carse that straightened to peg back the off stump as Williamson played down the wrong line. Carse set off in celebration, only to receive the bad news via the medium of Adrian Holdstock’s outstretched right arm.
13th over: New Zealand 50-1 (Latham 16, Williamson 20) Williamson has plenty of time to pull Stokes through midwicket for three and bring up the New Zealand fifty. Just over an hour’s play remaining tonight. England would love two more wickets but they’d probably take one, especially if it’s Williamson.
“Surely, statistically, you’ve had a career-best, Rob,” says Paul Cockburn, “even if it was only 0-80.”
That hardly puts us in After The Lord Mayor’s Show territory, does it?
12th over: New Zealand 46-1 (Latham 16, Williamson 17) The first delivery after the review is a nasty short ball that Williamson fences just short of Bethell in the cordon. After a slightly loose first over, Carse is well and truly into his work.
Williamson is not out!
That was a tough one for the third umpire. Williamson’s bat thumped his front pad as he pushed down the wrong line, but there was another spike at the precise moment the ball went past the bat. It might have been a thin outside edge; it might also have been a continuation of the contact between bat and pad. In short, there was no clear evidence so the third umpire couldn’t overturn the on-field decision.
England review for caught behind against Williamson!
It was a jaffa from Carse, and though Ben Stokes doesn’t look 100 per cent sure, it’s Kane Williamson and therefore it’s going upstairs.
11th over: New Zealand 44-1 (Latham 15, Williamson 15) A double bowling change: Woakes off, Stokes on. He still has three slips in place but the ball isn’t doing as much for England as it did the New Zealand bowlers. A couple of runs reduce the deficit to 236.
10th over: New Zealand 42-1 (Latham 14, Williamson 14) Carse comes on for Atkinson, who wasn’t at his best in a spell of 4-0-18-1 but took the important wicket of Devon Conway.
Latham clips his first delivery through midwicket for three, with Bashir doing extremely well to save the boundary. Williamson drives delightfully through mid-off for four; Carse pulls his length back and goes past the edge with a terrific delivery.
This is a good test for Carse, physically and also mentally. It’s not always easy to follow up a career-best performance a few days later, or so I’ve been told.
9th over: New Zealand 33-1 (Latham 11, Williamson 8) That’s nice from Latham, leaning forward to time Woakes through mid-off for three. Williamson, looking ominously good already, defends the remainder of the over.
In other news, Mitchell Starc has struck with the first ball of the Adelaide Test. Yep.
8th over: New Zealand 30-1 (Latham 8, Williamson 8) Blimey. Williamson shows his intent by cutting his first ball, a short one from Atkinson, brusquely for four. He looked in outstanding touch in the first Test, even if it was strange to see him fail to convert two fifties. A couple of drives through mid-on and then cover bring him two runs apiece.
7th over: New Zealand 22-1 (Latham 8, Williamson 0) Another lovely delivery from Woakes slips past Latham’s defensive push. But then he strays onto the hip and is turned efficiently for four.
6th over: New Zealand 18-1 (Latham 4, Williamson 0) A genius walks to the crease.
Meanwhile, play is about to begin in the second Test between Australia and India. It’s a huge game, particularly for the Aussies, and Geoff Lemon is on OBO duty.
WICKET! New Zealand 18-1 (Conway c Brook b Atkinson 11)
Told you Gus Atkinson wasn’t bowling well. He has made the breakthrough at the end of a good over in which he troubled Conway repeatedly. Eventually Conway drove loosely, one hand coming off the bat, and edged straight to Brook at second slip.
5th over: New Zealand 11-0 (Latham 1, Conway 7) Conway leans into a fuller delivery from Woakes and drives sweetly through mid-off for four. That will make him feel a whole lot better as he searches for form.
It’s not quite happening for England with the new ball. Ben Stokes is a proactive specimen so don’t be surprised if we see Brydon Carse earlier than expected.
4th over: New Zealand 7-0 (Latham 1, Conway 3) While England attacked the new ball, Latham and Conway are leaving as many deliveries as possible. Atkinson is enabling them and again looks short of rhythm; he’s also bowled a no-ball in each of his first two overs.
3rd over: New Zealand 6-0 (Latham 1, Conway 3) Woakes gets some extravagant seam movement to beat Conway on the inside. He has a few polite words with Conway, who smiles sheepishly. Woakes’ hands go to his head when Conway drags a couple of runs into the leg side; for a split second Woakes thought he had him LBW.
2nd over: New Zealand 4-0 (Latham 1, Conway 1) Atkinson has three slips and a gully for Conway, who is trying to play as little as possible while he gets his eye in. Atkinson’s length gets fuller as the over progresses and Conway takes a quick single off the fifth delivery.
Atkinson’s speed in that over was around 82-85mph.
1st over: New Zealand 2-0 (Latham 1, Conway 0) Both the New Zealand openers are under a bit of pressure – particularly Devon Conway, who averaged 53 in his first 13 Tests but just 23 in the last 13.
Woakes almost gets him for a duck with a superb delivery from round the wicket; it cuts through the gate and bounces over middle stump.
Nathan Smith finishes with bonkers figures of 11.4-1-86-4. He was outbowled by Will O’Rourke (3 for 49) and Matt Henry (2 for 43), in truth, but then he deserves a bit of luck after all those dropped catches in the first Test.
England’s innings can be split into three sections: they were 43 for 4, then 217 for 4 after a pulsating partnership behind Harry Brook and Ollie Pope, and finally 280 all out.
The ball has done plenty today so England won’t be too disappointed with that score. But they’ll also be frustrated that Brook, who made a devastating 123. was run out needlessly on the stroke of tea.
WICKET! England 280 all out (Carse c O’Rourke b Smith 9)
Carse turns down a single off Smith, who then rams a bouncer over everyone for five wides. The innings ends soon after when Carse top-edges a pull towards deep backward square, where Will O’Rourke takes a fine low catch.
54th over: England 275-9 (Carse 9, Bashir 0)
WICKET! England 275-9 (Woakes c Blundell b O’Rourke 18)
Chris Woakes is caught behind off Will O’Rourke. It’s a triumph for the wicketkeeper Tom Blundell – not for the catch, which was easy, but because he was the only person who appealed. Woakes tried to flat bat O’Rourke over the off side and got a gossamer-thin edge.
Blundell was sure he heard something and, with two reviews left, Tom Latham decided to go upstairs. It was a good decision.
53rd over: England 271-8 (Woakes 15, Carse 8) Brydon Carse, a Test match No10, charges his first delivery and muscles it over mid-off for four. That’s an extraordinary shot, which he follows with an edge that lands short of the cordon and scuttles between Southee’s legs for four.
Nathan Smith has figures that are surely unique in Test cricket history: 11-1-81-3.
WICKET! England 263-8 (Atkinson c Phillips b Smith 4)
Gus Atkinson lasts just three balls: a top-edged hook for four, a play and miss and then an edge that is smartly snaffled by Phillips in the gully. It was a really good delivery from Smith that bounced and straightened off the seam. England will hope for more of the same when they bowl, which should be any minute now.
Harry Brook’s record in Tests in New Zealand
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89 (81 balls)
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54 (41)
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186 (176)
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0 (0)
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171 (197)
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123 (115)
Overall 623 runs at 103.83, strike-rate 102.13
Tea
52.1 overs: England 259-7 (Woakes 15) That’s a frustrating end to a glorious innings from Brook: 123 from 115 balls with 11 fours and five sixes. It’s his second run out in as many innings on this ground. And, more importantly, it has turned a good session for England into a slightly disappointing one.
WICKET! England 259-7 (Brook run out 123)
A minor shemozzle on the stroke of tea. Brook drops Smith on the leg side, sets off and is sent back by Woakes. Smith collects the ball in his follow through and throws down the stumps with Brook not even close to making his ground.
52nd over: England 259-6 (Brook 123, Woakes 15) A maiden from Henry to Woakes, including two more past the outside edge. It looks like there will be time for another over before the break.
51st over: England 259-6 (Brook 123, Woakes 15) Smith, on for Southee, nips one back to hit Brook in the stomach. Nicely bowled. Brook works a pair of twos to leg, then shapes to uppercut and is beaten by a ball that follows him.
Time for one more over before tea.
49th over: England 255-6 (Brook 119, Woakes 15) Brook continues to take a breather on the job by taking another single early in Henry’s over. Woakes softens his hands to ensure an edge falls well short of Mitchell at first slip.
49th over: England 254-6 (Brook 118, Woakes 15) Southee loses his line on a couple of occasions, which allow Woakes to nail drives for four through point and then cover.
England have such a strong tail in this game, with Atkinson and Carse still to come. It still doesn’t compare to this South African 8-11 at Adelaide in 1997-98:
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Brian McMillan
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Shaun Pollock
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Lance Klusener
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Pat Symcox
Lance Klusener at No10 FHS.
48th over: England 243-6 (Brook 115, Woakes 7) Matt Henry replaces O’Rourke, who bowled a ruthless spell of 5-1-19-2, and becomes the latest bowler to beat Woakes outside off stump. It’s terrific bowling, particularly with a ball that is 48 overs old. The more Woakes plays and misses, the more encouraged he will be about his chances with the ball when the time comes.
47th over: England 240-6 (Brook 114, Woakes 5) Southee deserves a wicket for what has been a really challenging old-ball spell. Woakes almost offers a return catch, then plays and misses at successive deliveries. The second was such a jaffa that Woakes smiled broadly in recognition of Southee’s craftsmanship.
Incidentally Brook has faced only 10 balls in eight overs since the wicket of Pope, which is the main reason the scoring has slowed. He has 114 from 103 balls, Woakes 5 from 23.