Late wickets cap dominant day as England put New Zealand to the sword

Fifties for Harry Brook and Ben Duckett followed by two key breakthroughs for James Anderson give the tourists complete control of the first Test at Bay Oval

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Bay Oval (day one of five): England 325-9d, New Zealand 37-3 - New Zealand are 288 runs behind with seven first-innings wickets remaining

Scorecard

England backed up a bold declaration with some key breakthroughs under lights to sprint into the ascendency in the first Test against New Zealand at Bay Oval.

Harry Brook (89) and Ben Duckett (84) guided the tourists to 325 for 9 in 58.2 overs - allowing them to declare with just under an hour and a half of play remaining.

Ollie Robinson removed Tom Latham (1) before James Anderson dismissed Kane Williamson (6) and Henry Nicholls (4) to leave the Black Caps 37 for 3 at the close.

It was another day which exemplified England's improvement under the Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes axis as ambitious batting was followed by penetrating bowling.

New Zealand are only a day into a two-Test series but their underfire, understrength attack struggled before their top-order disintegrated amid tough conditions to bat.

Upon being inserted, the tourists dominated the afternoon session courtesy of Duckett's breathless half-century, his fifth in Tests.

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New Zealand had little to celebrate in the opening session (MARTY MELVILLE/AFP via Getty Images)

The Nottinghamshire left-hander missed out on three figures and a slice of history, slashing to Michael Bracewell to give Blair Tickner his maiden Test wicket, as he missed out on becoming the seventh player to hit a century in the first session of a Test.

It ended a second-wicket stand with Ollie Pope (42) worth 99.

An underpowered Kiwi attack had just a pair of breakthroughs to celebrate from the opening passage of play with Zak Crawley (4), who edged captain Tim Southee to Bracewell, the other batter to fall.

Crawley could have departed twice before eventually returning to the pavilion, first after being put down by Bracewell off the second ball of the Test by Southee, before Wagner overstepped while bowling the Kent opener off his pads.

Without Matt Henry, Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson, an inexperienced Black Caps attack containing two debutants toiled as England continued their aggressive mode of attack from the outset.

As the session progressed New Zealand took a short approach with the ball but a placid surface - Cyclone Gabrielle had risked the Test starting on time - provided a risk-free platform for England, who brought up their century inside 90 minutes of play.

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Duckett took advantage of anything wayward in the afternoon session (Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Southee's side looked to be staging something of a revival after the interval when Pope and Root (14) were dismissed in the space of three deliveries.

It was the skipper who got the breakthrough, catching the edge of the former before Root's attempt at a reverse sweep, which had earlier proved successful, only landed in the grateful hands of Daryl Mitchell.

It provided Wagner with a morale-boosting wicket but his tribulations continued on either side of the dinner break.

Brook picked up from where he left off against Pakistan earlier in the winter with a punishing half-century, brought up in 43 balls via a 10th boundary; a lofted ramp over the head of Tom Blundell.

The Yorkshireman followed the blueprint of Duckett's innings from earlier in the day, keeping out the occasional testing delivery before pouncing on anything wayward.

Tickner had made Duckett his maiden Test victim but he was dispatched ruthlessly by Brook. His nadir came in the 39th over as two short and wide deliveries were creamed to the point boundary.

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Brook was at his sublime best (Phil Walter/Getty Images)

As the clouds continued to build overhead at Mount Maunganui, the England approach ratcheted up, a shift typified by a sublime Brook maximum as Southee was sent back over his head.

A morsel of encouragement for New Zealand came in the penultimate over before the dinner break as Southee delivered the first maiden of the Test, in the 47th over.

Brook and Ben Foakes put on an 89-run stand, but wickets for Kuggeleijn and Wagner halted England's progress. Ollie Robinson (15) put the hammer down to squeeze out some late runs and with the away side nine down in the 59th over Stokes called them in with around 90 minutes of play remaining.

Robinson and Anderson had both been critical of the pink ball before the Test but they were the beneficiaries of some movement under the lights as England finished off a dominant day with three late wickets.

Latham found Pope at short leg before Anderson snared Williamson and Nicholls in successive overs. Devon Conway, put down on nine by Crawley, showed defensive resilience to limit the damage and remains unbeaten on 17, with plenty of onus on him to stem the tide on day two.


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