England arrived in Hamilton hoping to whitewash New Zealand’s Black Caps but found themselves “broken open” by a pace bowling clinic from Will O’Rourke.
Ben Stokes’ side were scattered for 143 all out on the second afternoon at Seddon Park, losing all 10 wickets inside 36 chaotic overs and ending a difficult 340 behind with seven wickets still to take.
Batting collapses are hardly an alien concept in the all-or-nothing world of Bazball but England’s lowest scores of 2024 – 112 in Rawalpindi and 122 at Rajkot – have come on sub-continental pitches where the spinning ball has scrambled heads.
Conditions in New Zealand are less dramatic and it took a combination of careless strokeplay and high-class work from O’Rourke to rip their batting lineup to shreds.
The 6ft 4in quick, born in Kingston-upon-Thames but raised in Auckland, played the role of antagonist with aplomb as he knocked over Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook and Joe Root in the space of only eight deliveries after lunch.
England never recovered from that triple setback, which included the first golden duck of Brook’s career – a matter of days after he became the world’s number one batter.
Assistant coach Paul Collingwood admitted the tourists were floored by high-class cricket.
“I think we’ve been outperformed here, simple as that,” he said.
“Of course the lads were disappointed, it wasn’t our best day, but one thing I would say is we witnessed something pretty special out there, a really hostile spell of Test bowling.
“I’m glad I wasn’t the one out there facing it because you don’t see those kind of spells every day. Sometimes you have to take your hat off, he was a real standout for them. To get three wickets during that spell has really broken us open.
“It’s going to be pretty difficult from this position, but never say never. When you’ve got a side full of match-winners like we have, it only takes a couple to do something special. There’ll be belief that we can break a record if that’s what we’ve got to do.”
One man who has endured more tough times than most of late is Zak Crawley, the out-of-form opener who averages a lowly 9.40 after a taxing tour that has put him in an unwanted spotlight.
He did not even face O’Rourke, dismissed for the fifth time in a row by his new-ball nemesis Matt Henry. England’s faith in the attacking right-hander appears to be limitless but Collingwood accepted his head-to-head woes against the wily Kiwi seamer had become a troubling trend.
“I think he’s had a struggle with Henry in particular. He’s caused him problems,” he said.
“I know myself, it’s awful. You’re not just thinking about it when you’re waiting to go and bat, you’re thinking about it away from the game. But the team will get around Zak and find ways to take his mind off something like that.
“The way he’s playing in the nets, he’s hitting the ball really well, he’s just finding ways of getting out. With Zak, we’re not asking him to be consistent, it’s about match-winning moments. We know with Zak that once he gets in he can hurt teams. And I’m telling you, he’s ready to hurt someone.”
Crawley has one more chance to end a tough trip on a positive note but first England’s weary bowlers have more to do. New Zealand will begin day three on 136 for three, with Kane Williamson making ominous progress on 50 not out.