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England demolish Black Caps to take 1-0 lead in series

December 1, 2024
Brydon Carse celebrates his five-wicket bag for England at Hagley Oval today.

England have beaten New Zealand in the first Test by eight wickets after comfortably chasing the required 104 runs in 13 overs, a quickfire second-innings response which took only 53 minutes.

The defeat, with a day and a half remaining, was a sobering one for the Black Caps after their 3-0 series win in India.

Their major failings at Hagley Oval came in the field in England's first innings when they put down several catches - Harry Brooke taking full advantage during his innings of 171 after the home side were dismissed for 348.

Their batting specialists also failed to fire, with Kane Williamson's 93 in the first innings the best knock of the match for New Zealand.

Test debutant Jacob Bethell, in at No.3 today, had the honour of scoring the winning run for England and in the process brought up his half century off only 37 balls.

England were aggressive in reply to New Zealand's 254 in the second innings, with opener Ben Duckett leading the charge with 27 off 18 balls after Matt Henry gave the home side a glimmer of hope when catching Zak Crawley off his own bowling for 1.

The tourists were 1-1 at that point but from there Duckett cut loose, with Southee and Will O'Rourke punished by Bethel and Joe Root in particular.

The Black Caps began the day four runs ahead and six wickets down, with seamer Brydon Carse the main strike weapon for the visitors. Carse took 6-42, his first five-wicket haul in a Test innings and had 10 for the match.

It is the first time an England bowler has taken 10 wickets in an overseas Test since Monty Panesar in 2012.

Starting the day on 155-6, debutant Nathan Smith (21) was the first to go this morning when missing one from Carse that stayed low, his review failing to overturn the LBW decision, with Henry (1) dismissed in very similar fashion.

Enter Southee for his final Test in Christchurch, the veteran hitting his 94th and 95th Test sixes of his career in a breezy 12 off 13 deliveries before making way for O’Rourke who combined well in a defiant last-wicket stand with Mitchell.

Daryl Mitchell, left, celebrates his half century at Hagley Oval today with Will O'Roarke.

The tall, quick bowler displayed a defence and temperament which should have been admired by some of the batting specialists in the side and looked unflustered when allowing Mitchell to farm the majority of the strike.

The watchful Mitchell, who started the day on 31 and enjoyed a running verbal battle with Carse, brought up his sixth Test half century in 132 balls and gradually became more aggressive. Two boundaries with the field up in a Chris Woakes over were particularly valuable.

Mitchell was finally out when attempting to hit Carse down the ground but succeeded only in picking out the long-off fielder. His second innings was comfortably New Zealand's most substantial after Kane Williamson's 61.

Mitchell and O'Rourke put on 45 for the final wicket to at least give England a triple-figure target in a Test which they have controlled almost from the outset.

The only apparent issue for England is the injury to skipper and allrounder Ben Stokes, who bowled only half of his seventh over due to what seemed to be a hamstring injury.

However, he stayed on the field which suggested the problem may not be too series ahead of the remaining Tests in Wellington and Hamilton.

Watch the Black Caps' summer of cricket live and exclusive on TVNZ+ and TVNZ's Duke

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