Anderson puts England on top in first Test after Stokes' day-one declaration

By Sports Desk February 16, 2023

James Anderson struck twice under the lights to put England on top in the first Test against New Zealand after Ben Stokes declared on day one.

Ben Duckett struck a rapid 84 off only 68 balls and Harry Brook made a majestic 89 from 81 deliveries as the tourists put 325 runs on the board from 58.2 overs before Stokes ended the innings at Bay Oval.

The Black Caps were in trouble on 37-3 at stumps in the day-night match in Mount Maunganui, the outstanding Anderson taking 2-10 after Ollie Robinson got rid of Tom Latham.

Tim Southee asked England to bat first at the start of a two-match series that got under way following great work from the ground staff so soon after Cyclone Gabrielle had passed through.

Southee got rid of Zak Crawley early on with the pink ball, but the aggressive Duckett and Ollie Pope put on 99 for the second wicket.

Duckett fell before lunch when he struck debutant Blair Tickner to Michael Bracewell and Pope was dismissed by Southee (2-71) for 42 before Neil Wagner removed Joe Root (14).

England were 209-5 when Scott Kuggeleijn (2-80) claimed the scalp of Stokes on debut, but Brook raced to a 43-ball half-century as he put on 89 with Ben Foakes in quick time.

Brook missed out on making it four hundreds in as many Tests when he dragged on to a delivery from Wagner, who also saw the back of Foakes (38) and Jack Leach before Stokes declared.

Robinson then had Latham caught at short leg, with Anderson generating movement off the seam and through the air as he trapped Kane Williamson leg before and had Henry Nicholls caught by Crawley in the slips.

Devon Conway was still there at the close after being dropped by Crawley on nine and nightwatchman Wagner did his job, but it was England's day.

 

Duckett and Brook stay in one-day mode

Opener Duckett and Brook have grabbed their chance with both hands after coming into the Test side last year, piling on the runs in a historic 3-0 series win in Pakistan.

Duckett set the tempo at the top of the order, putting the bowlers under pressure as he crashed 14 boundaries in a swashbuckling knock.

Brook then took centre stage once again, showing his class as he found the rope 15 times and struck Tim Southee for a glorious six down the ground.

Anderson puts deadly duo on verge of history

England's legendary duo of Anderson and Stuart Broad came into this match closing in on become the most successful bowling partnership in Test history.

Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath combined to claim 1,001 when they were in the same Australia team.

Two scalps for Anderson moved the evergreen seamer and Broad on to 999, within touching distance of setting a new record.

Related items

  • IPL: KKR ease past SRH into IPL final IPL: KKR ease past SRH into IPL final

    Kolkata Knight Riders are through to the Indian Premier League final after cruising to victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday.

    A dominant KKR eased to an eight-wicket win with 38 balls remaining, with Mitchell Starc inspiring the victory.

    The Sunrisers chose to bat first but were in unfamiliar territory at 13-2 inside two overs as Starc bowled Travis Head, who did not get a single run, before Andre Russell caught Abhishek Sharma.

    Starc took two more wickets in his second over, finishing with 3-34 as the pick of KKR’s bowlers.

    Pat Cummings ensured SRH did not finish with a sub-140 total, knocking 30 before being caught by Rahmanullah Gurbaz, as they set a target of 160.

    Cummings then conceded 20 runs in his first over but eventually bounced out Sunil Narine for 21 after Gurbaz was caught for 23.

    Venkatesh Iyer finished with an unbeaten 51 alongside Shreyas Iyer, who top-scored with a 24-ball 58 to comfortably help KKR reach 164-2.

    SRH will have another chance to make it to the final in the second qualifier where they will face either the Rajasthan Royals or Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday.

    Data Debrief: Playoff partners

    The Iyers' 97 not out off 44 balls is the second-highest scoring partnership for KKR in the playoffs. 

    Cummins and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth's 33-run partnership is SRH's highest for the 10th wicket in IPL, breaking the record of 22 between Dale Steyn and Praveen Kumar, but it was not enough to trouble KKR.

  • "Couldn’t be scripted better": King honoured to lead West Indies for the first time "Couldn’t be scripted better": King honoured to lead West Indies for the first time

    Opener Brandon King will captain the West Indies for the first time when they take on South Africa in three T20Is from May 23-26 at Sabina Park in Kingston.

    The 29-year-old has scored 1150 runs in 47 T20Is at an average of 28.04 since his debut against Afghanistan in Lucknow in 2019.

    Captaincy is not new for King as he most recently captained the Jamaica Scorpions in the West Indies Championship after leading the Jamaica Tallawahs in last season’s Caribbean Premier League.

    “Definitely,” was King’s response when asked about whether or not it is an honor to lead the regional side for the first time.

    “It couldn’t be scripted better. It’s an honour to lead the West Indies in any capacity and even more to do it at home so I’m very happy,” he added.

    In addition to leading the Windies for the first time, King also expressed joy at getting to do it in his home country Jamaica.

    “Obviously, extremely happy. I’m always excited to play at home. It’s good that we get some cricket in especially leading up to the world cup. It brings some excitement to the fans so I’m happy about it,” he said.

    The squad recently had a training camp and King is looking forward to the squad getting an opportunity to get some match practice ahead of the world cup set for June 1-29.

    “Match practice is something that you can’t replicate in training. We’re coming from a training camp and this is our opportunity to put those plans and skills in place so we’re very much looking forward to it,” he said.

    Despite some regular squad members being missing from the squad due to the IPL playoffs, King says the players present are looking to implement some of the plans that many hope will lead to West Indian success at the world cup.

    “A few of the guys aren’t here as yet but I think the communication has been clear with the whole group. We know how we want to play and the guys that are here, we’re looking to implement that in this series and see how it goes,” he said.

     

     

     

  • Southgate envisages central role for 'brilliant' Foden at Euro 2024 Southgate envisages central role for 'brilliant' Foden at Euro 2024

    Gareth Southgate believes Phil Foden's starting position is less important than the spaces he is allowed to attack, pledging to find a way of letting him operate centrally at Euro 2024.

    Foden was included in England's 33-man preliminary squad on Tuesday, and he is expected to be among the first names on the teamsheet after enjoying a fine campaign.

    Foden was named Premier League Player of the Season as he helped Manchester City win an unprecedented fourth straight title, scoring 19 goals and adding seven assists.

    Only three players in the league bettered Foden's goal tally, while he also ranked seventh in the division for chances created (73) and fourth for possession won in the final third (35 times).

    Foden scored two excellent goals as City clinched the title with a 3-1 final-day win over West Ham, drifting infield from the right to find space between the lines and in the penalty area.

    While the presence of Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka has led many to conclude Foden will be stationed on the left in Germany, Southgate is aware of the need to grant him positional freedom.

    "Phil has played off the right, off the left, the key is where he ends up, not his starting position," Southgate said at a press conference on Tuesday.

    "He plays on the left with City, sometimes he stays wide, but he's allowed to drift, and it has always been the same with us. He's allowed to drift. 

    "Then there's where a player has to defend. Jude has played as a 10 all season, and sometimes he has defended on the left for Real Madrid. 

    "It's about where these players arrive and where you allow them to drift, that's the key. I think if you spoke to all of our players, we never pin them to a touchline, that's not how we work so there is that freedom."

    Foden produced a series of talismanic displays for City in the run-in, scoring match-winning hat-tricks against Brentford and Aston Villa and masterminding a vital comeback against Manchester United with two goals in March.

    The 23-year-old stepped up while players like Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were sidelined through injury, and Southgate has been impressed by his ability to shoulder that responsibility.

    "It's obvious the brilliant season Phil has had, how he stepped up in big games not only when big players have been out but when he's been playing alongside them as well," Southgate added.

    "You want him in central areas as you do one or two others, so we have to find the best way of making that happen."

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.