Published: May 30, 2015, 11:12 PM (IST)
Edited: May 31, 2015, 02:31 PM (IST)
Honours were even at Stumps on Day Two of the 2nd Test between England and New Zealand at Headingley. The hosts are 253 for five at the end of 88 overs with Jos Buttler and Ian Bell batting for them after the 177-run opening stand from Alastair Cook and Adam Lyth gave them the platform to build on. The New Zealand bowlers though came back well after the opening stand to stay in the game.
England earlier bowled out New Zealand for 350. Tom Latham (84) and Luke Ronchi (88) missed out on tons as they had taken New Zealand to 297 for eight at end of Day One. The lower order from New Zealand, in Matt Henry, Mark Craig and Trent Boult then played cameos to take them to 350 as Stuart Broad took his 13th five-wicket haul in Tests.
Alastair Cook became England’s highest-ever run-scorer in Test cricket when he broke the record of batting mentor Graham Gooch. The 30-year-old left-handed opener started England’s reply to New Zealand’s first innings 350 on Saturday needing just 32 more runs to surpass Gooch’s mark of 8,900 runs in 118 Tests. He went onto score 75 before being dismissed trying to sweep Craig and was given out after the review. Full Updates:England vs New Zealand, 2nd Test at Headingley, Day 2
Lyth scored his maiden Test ton on his home ground, becoming only the second opening batsmen from Yorkshire to score a ton at Headingley after Geoffrey Boycott in 1977. He did struggle a bit as he got into his nineties, he also deflected one of his back foot onto his stumps but the bails did not come off. He also got to 98 courtesy of a loft just wide of the mid on fielder but ensured he got to his milestone with a chip off Craig. Scorecard:England vs New Zealand, 2nd Test at Headingley, Day 2
New Zealand did comeback in the match a bit with quick wickets. Gary Ballance was not quite in best of touches and it showed when he called for a risky single and Lyth was caught short of the crease, run out for a well made 107. Ballance did not last long as Boult castled him with a beauty to salvage some pride for the Kiwis. The poor tour continued for him as the Kiwis made the new ball talk, dismissing Joe Root very early. Ben Stokes did not last long enough as Boult dismissed him in the last over of the play, caught at second slip by Craig to ensure they were right back in the game.
The Kiwi bowlers were rue the fact that they did not bowl well at the start of the day. Craig bowled a really good spell and Cook’s wicket was a worthy reward of staying patient with his line and length. The second new ball worked for them as they got a couple of wickets but they will wish for more reward tomorrow and try to not let England run away with the game as the hosts do bat very deep.
Earlier, England won the toss on Day One and inserted New Zealand into bat. They were unchanged. New Zealand replaced the injured Corey Anderson with Luke Ronchi.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 350 (Tom Latham 84, Brendon McCullum 41, Luke Ronchi 88; James Anderson 2 for 43, Stuart Broad 5 for 109) lead England 253 for 5 (Adam Lyth 107, Alastair Cook 75; Trent Boult 2 for 63, Mark Craig 1 for 38) by 97 runs.
(Nikhil Popat is a die hard cricket enthusiast and a PotterHead till the end of time. He can be followed on Twitter @CricCrazyNIKS)
