New Delhi: England humbled New Zealand by eight wickets on Sunday in the first Test played at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. The five-day series opener lasted till its penultimate day as England chased the meagre 104-run target set by the hosts with ease. Despite a strong start in the game, New Zealand couldn’t find their way back, even with the twin fifties of their star batter Kane Williamson, which went in vain.
England pacer Brydon Carse was adjudged the Player of the Match for his match haul of 10 wickets as he picked four wickets in the first and six in the second innings. The Three Lions’ other heroes were Harry Brook who hit 171 to revive the team during the first innings, Ollie Pope scoring 77 while skipper Ben Stokes scored a brilliant 80 to help England surpass New Zealand by 151 runs in the first innings.
New Zealand put up 348 after being invited to bat first and England replied with 499 before getting bundled out. The hosts needed to capitalise on the lead in the second innings which they disappointingly couldn’t and were halted at 254, courtesy of a brilliant pace attack of England. A valiant Daryl Mitchell 84(167) kept fighting but was dismissed as the final Kiwi wicket of the second innings.
Nonetheless, with the first Test win, England still sit on the sixth spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 table with a PCT of 43.75, winning 10 out of the 20 Tests played to date. Meanwhile, despite the loss, New Zealand sit fourth with a 50.00 PCT, having won six out of the 12 Tests played so far.
World Test Championship (2023-2025) – Points Table
Position
Team
Matches
Won
Lost
Drawn
NR
Points
PCT
1
India
15
9
5
1
0
110
61.11
2
South Africa
9
5
3
1
0
64
59.26
3
Australia
13
8
4
1
0
90
57.69
4
New Zealand
12
6
6
0
0
72
50
5
Sri Lanka
10
5
5
0
0
60
50
6
England
20
10
9
1
0
105
43.75
7
Pakistan
10
4
6
0
0
40
33.33
8
West Indies
10
2
6
2
0
32
26.67
9
Bangladesh
11
3
8
0
0
33
25
Debutant Bethell scores fifty, Root surpasses Tendulkar
“Bazball” was at play as England decided to go for the below-par target with everything that they have got. The batters looked in a hurry despite opener Zak Crawley (1) enduring another flop performance. Fellow opener Ben Duckett hit 27 before departing and the chase was then handled by the duo of debutant Jacob Bethell and veteran Joe Root. Bethell (50* off 37; 8 fours, 1 six) hit his maiden Test fifty, just in the nick of time, running a single as the winning run and reaching the 50-mark.
Meanwhile, Root hit an unbeaten 23 runs off 15 balls with the help of three fours and a six. In the process, he surpassed the legendary Sachin Tendulkar for another Test record. Root now has 1630 runs, the most, in the fourth innings in Test cricket, surpassing Sachin’s long-standing record of 1625 runs. The teams will relocate to Wellington for the second Test that begins on December 6.
England’s eight-wicket win over New Zealand in Christchurch has reshuffled the ICC World Test Championship points table. Discover rankings, match stats, and what’s next in the WTC 2023-25 schedule. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
