Jack Leach and James Anderson each strike six as England takes advantage of the aggressive declaration

Aggressive batting, strange declarations, and a brutal desire to take wickets With yet another day in Wellington ruined by rain, England checked off all the boxes for their new style of Test cricket to take complete control of the second Test.

Harry Brook did not reach a double-hundred, but his early departure did not deter the visitors. For the second consecutive Test, Ben Stokes declared in the first innings after Joe Root’s disciplined, unbeaten 153 helped England pass 400 runs. 

James Anderson and Jack Leach then combined for six wickets, leaving New Zealand scrambling to win the follow-on before rain storms once more forced an early end.

With the pitch still green, the bowlers had plenty to work with, and wickets continued to fall regularly, further highlighting Brook and Root’s excellent first-day partnership. The next-best partnership on either side was 39, and their partnership, which terminated in the third over of the second morning, was ultimately worth 302.

New Zealand made the majority of its gains on day two by beating Brook, who only added two runs to his overnight total of 184. 

The home attack continued to take a beating in the face of more gung-ho batting, but Matt Henry was the one to ultimately defeat Brook on his way to figures of 4 for 100.

Since the second Test had already been delayed and more delays were expected, Stokes decided to advance the game. 

Leach then took the stage as England hacked away at a discouraged home lineup to leave them 103 for 7 just after the tea break. Immediately before lunch, Anderson delivered a double-wicket burst.

Tom Blundell prevented New Zealand from rallying, but Tim Southee took England back before the rain began to fall 40 minutes into the evening session with two thunderous sixes – his 77th and 78th on the all-time list.

In the early stages, Root’s strokeplay set the tone, and England quickly gained control of the ball. England’s evaluation supported the existence of a thin outside edge despite the initial muted response to the appeal.

Conway was pushed past the outside edge by Anderson’s fifth delivery. When Anderson bowled his third over, Foakes nicked through to Anderson to leave New Zealand 7 for 2.

At the break, when Will Young was confused by a scintilla of away movement and some extra bounce, the ball touched his bottom glove to give Anderson a third, changing their position to 21 for 3. 

New Zealand did make a comeback stand, but it was nowhere near as significant as England’s, who had been on exactly the same score on the first morning.

Before the former being given out caught off the wristband of the glove after aiming a reverse-sweep at Leach, Latham and Nicholls played densely, picking off boundaries whenever possible, and advancing the score to 60. 

As Aleem Dar confirmed Chris Gaffaney’s on-field decision, Latham reviewed and was obviously upset because replays were, at best, inconclusive.

It may have been that Ollie Pope caught a top-edge that had deflected off Nicholls’ arm a few overs later, causing Nicholls to leave the field with the same motion.

At silly mid-off, Pope then made a superb reaction catch to dismiss Daryl Mitchell and give Leach his third wicket. During the break, Stuart Broad added to the score when Michael Bracewell pushed a haphazard return ball.

The performance of Brook and Joe Root on day one, the fourth-wicket combination continuing a stand of 294, had laid the groundwork for England. 

In the second over of the day, Root used his reverse-ramp to dismiss Southee for six over deep third, but Brook’s joy was short-lived when he drilled a return catch to Henry, the bowler holding on at the second try.

As the innings was about to collapse, their association—already England’s highest for any wicket in New Zealand—contributed more than two-thirds of the final total.

With yet another furious innings, Stokes continued his recent trend of constantly trying to clear space and hit the seamers over the off side. Before being removed for 27 off 28 balls by hacking Neil Wagner limply to mid-off, he hit a few well-timed boundaries along with a few errors.

Although Foakes could have been counted on to bring a more level-headed attitude to the situation, he was curiously stumped in the next over after slipping out of his crease in response to Bracewell’s offspin. Soon after, Broad went leg before wicket to Bracewell, leaving England 4 for 66 with the second new ball approaching.

Root was ready to display his complete ability after being second fiddle to Brook on Friday. He slog-swept Bracewell into the crowd before hitting Southee for six and four with the new ball. 

Ollie Robinson took just as many shots with a fraction of the timing, but he was dropped Horribly off Henry and then plinked the following pass to midfield after being badly dropped. After hitting his sixth boundary of the session, Root then reached 150, and England left the field so they could begin batting with the ball.