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• Harry Brook century gets England back on track on day two in Christchurch

  An inspired and unbeaten knock of 132 from Harry Brook helped put England in the ascendancy on the second day of the first Test at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

  With New Zealand's first innings having been wrapped up at 348 all out, the tourists had their fair share of luck while at the crease with six dropped catches from the hosts at various points throughout the day.

  Despite that, England managed to finish on 319-5 at stumps.

  Of those drops, four were for Brook, without whom England would surely be facing a comprehensive defeat.

  It had been a salvage job from the 25-year-old, who put on a fifth-wicket partnership of 151 runs with Ollie Pope (77) before the latter was caught brilliantly by a flying Glenn Phillips at gully.

  At the nadir of their innings and prior to the aforementioned partnership, England had been 71-4 thanks to some excellent New Zealand bowling, with Jacob Bethell making just 10 on his Test debut.

  Following Pope's dismissal, England captain Ben Stokes came in to bat in the city of his birth. He put on an unbroken stand of 97 runs with Brook, making 37 himself and looked closer to his best.

  Stokes, though, was one of three who was dropped by New Zealand captain Tom Latham while on 30 runs.

  Speaking about the missed opportunities during England's innings, New Zealand's Nathan Smith was not too downhearted.

  "We judge ourselves off the chances we create and we created enough out there," he told TNT Sports.

  "I think a couple of catches going to hand there, it's a completely different story. But they got a couple of good partnerships and we just need to break them with the new ball tomorrow.

  "The bounce is there and when the ball is a bit newer, there is some nice seam movement as well. It's just about trying to control the run rate, which is tough against these guys with the old ball.

  "We probably got it a little bit wrong going wide to Brook, but I thought we brought it back nicely at the end there."

  Data debrief: Brilliant Brook reaches new heights

  Brook's132 brought his away-from-home batting average to 93, which puts him second in the all-time list behind Don Bradman.

  The score accrued during his innings also means that he now has over 2,000 Test runs.

  Brook has clocked up that total in just 36 innings, putting him eighth on the all-time quickest list to have reached 2,000 runs.

• Rutherford’s 46* in vain as Perera smashes 74* to lead New York Strikers to nine-wicket win over Northern Warriors

  Sherfane Rutherford’s 17-ball 46* was in vain as his Northern Warriors were defeated by nine wickets by the New York Strikers in Abu Dhabi T10 action at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

  Rutherford hit two fours and five sixes to help the Warriors post 111-3 from their 10 overs after being put in to bat by the Strikers.

  Finn Allen provided a good foundation for Rutherford’s late blitz with his 30 off 15 balls at the top of the innings.

  The Strikers bowling was led by Sunil Narine’s 2-16 from two overs.

  Sri Lankan Kusal Perera then put the Warriors bowlers to the sword on his way to 74* off just 27 balls to lead the Strikers to victory, hitting six fours and seven sixes as New York reached 112-1 off just eight overs.

  Asif Ali made 21* in support of Perera.

  Azmatullah Omarzai took 1-13 from two overs in the midst of the carnage.

  The Strikers now have three wins and three losses from their six games and find themselves fifth on the points standings with six points.

• “We’re not finished yet”- Da Silva calls for consistency as Windies look for first home Test series win since 2022

  The West Indies have not won a home Test series since 2022 when they defeated Bangladesh 2-0, producing a pair of dominant seven and ten wicket wins at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, respectively.

  Two years later, the regional side will have an opportunity to replicate that score line when they take on the same opponent in the second Test beginning on Saturday at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.

  The West Indies will, no doubt, be confident heading into this game after a dominant 201-run win in the first Test last week.

  With that in mind, the team will need to exercise killer instinct to defeat a gritty Bangladesh side who will be looking to avoid a third series defeat in a row after losses to India and South Africa in September and October.

  Vice-captain and wicket-keeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva shared these sentiments upon his arrival to the island ahead of the second Test.

  “Coming here 1-0 up in the series, it’s always a good feeling but we’re not finished yet. We’re looking to make that 2-0 and win the series,” Da Silva said.

  The first Test was a trip down memory lane for fans of West Indies cricket as the hosts used a barrage of pace to trouble the Bangladeshi batsmen. With no specialist spinner in the line-up, the majority of the wickets came from Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales with Justin Greaves also getting in on the action.

  

  “Raw pace and talent,” Da Silva said describing what fans can expect if the same bowling attack in fielded on Saturday.

  “Led very well by Kemar (Roach) and Alzarri (Joseph). We also have the newcomers like Shamar (Joseph) and Jayden (Seales) who’s bene around for some time now but is still learning his craft. The pace is there and you can see the fear that they put into the batsmen. It’s about using that advantage that we have and hopefully that’s a reason we make it 2-0,” he added.

  Individually, Da Silva will be hoping this trip to Jamaica is similar to his last when he captained the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force against the Jamaica Scorpions in the West Indies Championship in April.

  Da Silva made 106 off 140 balls and helped the Red Force defeat the Scorpions by an innings and 125 runs.

  “It’s always nice to be in Jamaica. Last time I was here I got a First Class hundred so hopefully that form can continue,” he said.

  With scores of 5, 1, 2*, 4, 27, 14 and 22 in his last seven Test innings, Da Silva will be hoping for a repeat of that performance against the Scorpions.

  The West Indies got a commanding score of 450-9 declared in the first innings of the first Test but were bowled out for 152 in the second innings.

  Heading into this game, Da Silva has called for more consistency from the batting unit, himself included, this time around.

  “The first innings we got 450 which was the goal. You cannot bat well all the time but at the end of the day we just need to be consistent. I think that’s what the batsmen need to do, myself included. As a batting group, we have some young batsmen in the middle order. Guys with less than 10 Test matches or coming up on 10 so, for us, it’s about learning to be consistent and getting those 300-400 scores,” he said.

  “We know we’re going to get the wickets. It’s just for the batsmen to put on the totals for them. I’m not worried about it. I believe we have the talent it’s just about the boys finding their feet and I’m confident we’ll get the job done,” he added.