Bethell, Carse and the triumph of Christchurch
Day Four: New Zealand v England, Hagley Oval
NEW ZEALAND 348 and 254
ENGLAND 499 and 104–2
England win by 8 wickets
Following the grey skies reminiscent of an English summer on Days 2 and 3 of this Test Match, the radiant sunshine of New Zealand returned today and on the field of the beautifully picturesque Hagley Oval England’s latest additions to their revolutionary brand of cricket, Brydon Carse and Jacob Bethell, shone the brightest. The hosts battled and indeed batted valiantly for over two hours in an elongated morning session to add exactly 100 runs to their slender overnight lead of just 4 runs to set their visitors a modest target of 104 for victory. Daryl Mitchell elegantly reached his 13th Test Match half-century before, running out of partners, skied a presentable catch for a running Chris Woakes to end the innings and a sixth wicket for “Man of the Match” Brydon Carse. England, in their now customary fashion, bludgeoned the ball to all parts of Christchurch as they chased the runs needed for a dominant win in under an hour and from just 12 overs. Ben Duckett set the tone with a quick fire 27, veteran Joe Root chipped in with 23 and with the shackles loosened and victory in sight, 21 year old new boy Jacob Bethell warmed to his afternoon task with eight boundary 4’s and one huge boundary clearing 6 as he hit the winning runs to finish exactly 50 not out and from just 37 balls received.
In short, and as posited in previous diary entries here, New Zealand squandered their advantage on Day 1, spilled half a dozen catches on Day 2 and from hereon in, England have been ruthless and dominant front runners.
Post-match, England captain Ben Stokes waved away an injury scare that saw him stop bowling mid-way through his 7th over as “more management than anything else” after a “pretty heavy week” before lavishing praise on “workhorse” Brydon Carse and his willingness to “charge in all day regardless of whether the conditions are in his favour or not” and the “incredible player” that is Harry Brook. The Yorkshireman’s 1st innings dig of 171 first stabilised the innings as a whole before partnerships with Ollie Pope and Stokes himself pushed England past the Kiwi’s 1st innings total and beyond. The recipient of numerous extra lives as the hosts spilled catch after catch on Day 2, opposition captain Tom Latham was honest enough to acknowledge this post-match too as he lamented that “No one means to drop catches. But I guess when you give opportunities to some quality players, sometimes that can hurt you” before sounding the battle cry for five days hence:
“We weren’t quite at our best but we know how fickle this game can be. We’ll head to Wellington and stay reasonably level”.
Thanks for reading. After watching England “through the night” I’ve turned these day by day ramblings into three self-published books to date, the first of which pictured below covers (in the fifth and final part) England’s last tour to New Zealand in early 2023:
"Ashes to Ashes" - link to Amazon
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.