James Anderson carried England to an exciting victory of 267 laps against New Zeland At Mount Maunganui they have since had 10 wins, 11 out of 10. Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum began their revolution on the Test side.
The result was beyond doubt as the game resumed on the fourth afternoon of this day/night match at Mr. Oval. Stuart Wide They gutted the top row with an electric four-wick explosion, but the tourists completed it with minimal fuss as Anderson sang.
Anderson broke the home team’s resistance in the opening session and took four of the five goals. New Zealand went from 63 in five overnight to 126 in exactly 100 minutes, and the final goal-stopping between Daryl Mitchell and Blair Tickner took more than half that time.
In a week when Anderson and Broad surpassed Australian bigs Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne to become the most prolific partnership in Test history, it was fitting that England’s record capper had their fair share of limelight.
Closing 2022 with an unprecedented laundering in Pakistan, the UK’s New Year debut was another major success that followed a series of milestones.
Stokes became the fastest-ever British captain to oversee 10 wins in 12 games in 2020, once acting as a replacement for Joe Root. Michael Vaughan was the previous standard bearer, taking 16 games to hit double digits. Only in the early 1960s did Australian Lindsay Hassett get such a fascinating start to life as a Test leader.
And that’s not all. This was also England’s first overseas win in a day/night Test, previously five full hits in Auckland, Adelaide (twice), Ahmedabad and Hobart, and a first of any kind in New Zealand in 15 years.
The hunt for victory began almost immediately, with Jack Leach pulling the best chips from all-round Michael Bracewell on day three. Easily caught by Harry Brook on the short midwicket, this shot put the tone into a totally loose resistance.
Anderson doubled down and found himself two in two with the fifth and sixth deliveries of the following order. Scott Kuggeleijn was easy prey, rebounding and sprinting towards someone holding the lbw right in front of the middle and home captain Tim Southee notched the slide to end a sad game with a golden duck.
Anderson had left the center stage for Broad the previous evening, but he rarely misses an opportunity to re-express his class. Neil Wagner caught the third when he gave goalkeeper Ben Foakes a catch.
Broad sought in vain a well-deserved fifth base as Mitchell kept the champagne on ice as he went to a solid 57. In the end, it took Anderson’s turn to finish things off by claiming four to 18 while grabbing Tickner.