England and New Zealand locked horns on the first day of the second Test on Thursday (16 February). New Zealand captain Tim Southee won the toss and invited England to bat first. Southee backed his decision by removing England opener Zak Crawley in his second over. However, the hosts found it difficult from thereon as Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope stitched a 99-run partnership.
Duckett played his usual game and departed after a well-made 84. Pope also chipped in with a handy 42. Meanwhile, New Zealand bowlers had some sigh of relief when they got rid of Pope and England’s best batter Joe Root in quick succession. But they were little aware of what was coming their way. While Duckett had set the tone for ‘Bazball’, Harry Brook took it forward as the batter launched an attack on the opposition bowlers.
Brook scored 89 runs off 81 balls with the help of 15 boundaries and a six which came off a beautiful lofted drive. In the 45th over of England’s innings, Brook played a lofted drive over extra cover with sheer audacity against Tim Southee. As the New Zealand captain sneaked in a full ball, Brook did not shy away from giving it the right treatment. The England batter creamed the drive and deposited it deep into the stands.
The commentators as well as the fans were left in the awe of this shot from Brook. The young English batter received a lot of praise from all corners. His teammate Sam Billings also reacted to this amazing shot as the wicketkeeper batter called Harry a “wizard”.
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On the back of half-centuries from Duckett and Brook, England declared their first innings on 325/9. The Ben Stokes-led team then got three early wickets to end Day 1 on top.