England clinched a series win over New Zealand with a 323-run hammering of the hosts in the second Test in Wellington, their seventh-largest victory all time in terms of runs.
Joe Root (106) opened the third day by notching his 36th Test ton – brought up with a reverse-ramped four – to see him join Rahul Dravid in a tie for fifth among the game’s most prolific century makers.
England, having resumed the morning on 378-5 in their second innings, ultimately declared on 427-6 with the fall of Root’s wicket and immediately set about the New Zealand top order with the ball.
Set a record 583 to win, Chris Woakes (2-20) and Brydon Carse (2-53) combined to reduce the Black Caps to 59-4 on the stroke of lunch, before Tom Blundell (115) enjoyed himself in the afternoon with a thrilling 96-ball hundred.
New Zealand never came close to threatening a most epic of comebacks, however, with Shoaib Bashir (2-110) eventually accounting for the wicketkeeper-batsman, before England skipper Ben Stokes (3-5) fittingly ran through the tail in a devastating three-over burst to wrap up a most emphatic of victories.
It’s Stokes’ side first away series win in two years since their 3-0 whitewash of Pakistan in 2022, and their first victory in New Zealand since 2008. The third and final Test in Hamilton begins on Saturday, December 14.
Stokes hails ‘phenomenal’ Brook innings to set up win
England captain Ben Stokes:
“It’s amazing to be stood here winning the series, especially after being 40-4 [43-4] on day one.
“Looking back to the start of this game, Harry Brook and Ollie Pope were just amazing on day one to go out and play like that.
“In cricket terms, that wicket is what we call a snake pit. It was doing plenty on day one, a lot of assistance for the bowlers but to have the bravery, backing your own ability, and also the skill to go out and play like that was absolutely phenomenal.
“We’ve been unbelievable with the ball but the way Harry Brook played on day one set the game up for us.
“We see giving guys the opportunities to go out and express themselves in tough conditions as the best way to see what they’re about.
“Jacob Bethell has certainly shown us what he’s about – and shown the world what he’s about as well.”
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Ian Ward was impressed by Jacob Bethell’s composure after he scored 96 for England on Day 2 of their second Test in New Zealand and believes his form could cause selection headaches.
Latham: It hurts that we didn’t play our best
New Zealand captain Tom Latham:
“We’re hurting. It’s disappointing to lose in that fashion, we only put up around 120 in the first innings and that put us on the back foot.
“Credit where credit is due. That was fantastic from England, they had one guy [Brook] that took it away. The way in which he took it in put us under pressure; he played some unbelievable shots.
“They kept their foot on the throat. We haven’t been able to absorb that pressure and put it back on them.”
“It hurts that we didn’t play our best. The guys tried really hard; I’m not doubting the effort. We came in today with the hope of putting up some good partnerships but that didn’t happen.
“We’ll turn up [in Hamilton] with the aspiration of winning the last Test match. We know we haven’t been our best, but we’ll try and turn that around.”