Stuart Broad yesterday razed New Zealand’s top order with a destructive opening spell to put England on the verge of winning the first Test at Mount Maunganui.
Broad claimed four wickets under lights — all clean bowled — to reduce the Black Caps’ second innings to 63-5 at stumps on day three, with hopes of reaching their winning target of 394 all but extinguished.
England have two full days to claim the remaining five wickets at the Bay Oval and go one-up in the two-match series — completing a 10th win in their last 11 Tests in the process.
Photo: AFP
In a match largely dominated by aggressive batting, Broad got the pink ball to zip sideways to devastating effect, removing arguably New Zealand’s four best batsmen to take 4-21 off 10 unrelenting overs.
Openers Devon Conway (2) and Tom Latham (15) both had their off-stumps disturbed while a scoreless Kane Williamson could not defend his middle stump.
Ollie Robinson had Henry Nicholls (7) caught behind before first-innings centurion Tom Blundell was also cleaned out by Broad, for one.
The 36-year-old Broad admitted conditions were set up perfectly.
“It’s just a different pitch to bowl on in the lights,” he said. “You go into a rhythm of not over-complicating, not thinking too much.”
“I was looking to bowl the same ball, whoever I was bowling against, and getting a wicket early just settles me. Once I got Conway, I felt like it could be my day,” Broad said.
Today, Daryl Mitchell is to resume on 13 and Michael Bracewell on 25.
Adding to the celebrations for Broad, he and long-time new-ball partner James Anderson became the most prolific bowling partnership in Test cricket.
The evergreen pair have taken 1,004 scalps between them in 133 Tests played together, surpassing the 1,001 shared by Australia’s Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in 104 games together.
With fine weather forecast for the last two days, England should march to their first win on New Zealand soil since 2008, having drawn five and lost two of the seven Tests since.
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