England’s right-handed batsman, Harry Brook, has been reliable over the past 12 months. He shocked everyone with a brilliant century on Day 1 of the second Test match against New Zealand. Sunrisers Hyderabad paid Rs 13.25 crore to purchase Brook, who was batting undefeated on 184 runs off 169 balls. The young English batsman made cricket history by scoring 800 runs in just 9 Test innings. India’s Vinod Kambli held the mark for most runs after 9 Test innings with 798 runs, but Harry Brook surpassed him on Friday, bringing his total to 807 runs. A huge milestone was added to his name as he beat cricketing greats like Herbert Sutcliffe (780 runs in 9 innings), Sunil Gavaskar (778 runs in 9 innings), and Everton Weekes (777 runs in 9 innings) to set a new record.
Rain interrupted play on the opening day of the series-deciding game with the visitors at 315-3 and Joe Root unbeaten on 101 runs.
New Zealand won the toss on a green surface and decided to bowl. That move earned immediate rewards as New Zealand quickly bowled out England’s top order for a combined total of 21 runs, including two runs for Zak Crawley, nine for Ben Duckett, and 10 for Ollie Pope. Harry Brook walked to the crease in the seventh over of England’s innings.
Michael Bracewell, an all-arounder, took two spectacular catches in the slips, one of Pope and one of Duckett, to get them both out.
Tim Southee took his 700th wicket for New Zealand and internationally across all forms with the dismissal of Duckett off a diving catch by Bracewell. Southee is the first New Zealander to reach that milestone. But after that, it was all Brook’s show, as his Test batting average went 100 only in 6 matches.
After scoring 89 runs and 54 runs in the first Test, Brook was named the game’s most valuable player as England cruised to a 267-run victory. He added to the fantastic beginning of his England Test debut with a magnificent unbeaten knock that included 24 fours and five sixes. It took him 169 balls to make 184 runs.
Harry Brook, along with former captain Root, got England out of a bind, with the score at 101-3 at lunch. The unrelenting strikes continued into the afternoon, with Brook adding another hundred to his total of hundreds scored against Pakistan in December.
Root played steadily but decisively, scoring his 29th Test century despite being his first in eight matches.
After a convincing opening game victory, England stayed with the same squad that had won the first Test. England had won 10 of the last 11 Tests under coach Brendon McCullum’s aggressive style of cricket.
Will Young and Henry for New Zealand replaced Scott Kuggeleijn and Blair Tickner.
