|
England slumped to their sixth-lowest Test total. At one point, it looked like they would collapse to their lowest. Here's how the drama unfolded on the first afternoon in Auckland.  Boult to Cook, OUT, play that! No chance, even for Cook. That's sensational bowling and NZ strike. Boult goes slightly wider of the crease, but he persists with that length, full. His deadly accuracy means Cook is drawn into a stroke, it's around off. Moves away just enough with that angle from wide of the crease, takes the outside edge and flies to second slip at a comfortable knee height. Big strike. Boult to Root, OUT, and Boult has Root! England's best Test batsmen are done for today. Stunning bowling again, very full outside off, the ball moving back in. Root is drawn into a drive because he sees a run-scoring option. He drives at the ball, but the ball swings back and finds a big gap between bat and pad. The ball loves that unhindered path and hits off stump. Boult to Malan, OUT, England in disarray! Boult is on faaayyyyaaa! It's the exact same delivery that got Cook, exactly the same. He goes wide of the crease and bowls it on a full length. Because of that, Malan has to get forward and play, or at least he feels like he needs to play. The ball moves away juust enough, takes the outside edge. It carries nicely to Watling, who dives in front of first slip and takes it with the gloves. Superb cricket from NZ. Southee to Stoneman, OUT, England are 18 for 4 on the first morning of the Test! Another terrific delivery, it's full, the ball moving away late. Stoneman has to play, he has to. The ball is straight afterall. Another outside edge and another nice low catch from Watling. Boult and Southee, not many better swing bowling combinations around. Boult to Stokes, OUT, it gets worse for England. They have been absolutely undone by one of the spells of the summer! Boult goes wide of the crease again, he has been taking the ball away for most of the afternoon from that angle. But this one doesn't, it comes back in. Stokes wants to leave that, but the ball keeps coming back in, like the off stump is a magnet and the ball is a magnetic substance with an opposite charge. It perfectly finds the off stump by the time Stokes' bat thinks of coming down.  Southee to Bairstow, OUT, caught and bowled! Read this right: 18 for 6! It's full outside off, nothing much else to it. Bairstow drives, looking to counter-attack but the ball comes on a touch slower than he expected. It lobs back off the lower half of the bat, towards Southee, who doesn't panic in his follow-through. The ball goes straight in. WHAT A START. Boult to Woakes, OUT, he's got a fifth, and he's only in his seventh over! Boult is judge, jury and executioner at Eden Park and everyone is feeling his wrath. Not least the stumps as they take another battering. This is another inswinger, pitched up, drawing Woakes into a drive. But to play these kinds of shots, the front foot needs to move, needs to cut the gap that pops out when the hands go searching. Woakes' doesn't. And Boult thunders through to hit off stump. Epic bowling. Unbelievably epic. Southee to Ali, OUT, yorker! As if the swing and seam isn't enough, Southee is forcing the batsmen to deal with toe-crushers? This is borderline evil! Moeen is so slow bringing the bat down, and when he does, he makes it travel down the original line of the ball. On off stump. But it's swinging in. Just enough again to beat the inside edge and cannon into the base of middle stump Southee to Broad, OUT, this has to be a dream! It's one thing to have your bowlers looking literally unplayable. But when you couple that with your captain flying through the air to catch a ball hurtling past him, you are playing cricket at an entirely different level. Williamson is at gully. He sees a thick outside edge from Broad. He throws himself to his left. He's parallel with the ground, sticking one hand out to that little pink thing and it sits in it ever so obediently Boult to Anderson, OUT, taken at point, Boult has six and England are all out for 58! This is the least glamorous wicket of all, but it still has an English batsman fearing the ball, Anderson shying away from a short ball outside off and poking it straight to the fielder. But really, what can No. 11 do when the rest of the line-up was so shoddy?
|
