Mount Maunganui (New Zealand), Feb 18 (IANS) England were cruising towards victory in the first Test at Bay Oval here, having reduced New Zealand to 63/5 in their second innings after hammering 374 runs in 74 overs on second calling to set the hosts a target of 394 for victory.
England, who had a small lead of 19 runs on basis of the first innings, scored runs at a frantic pace on the third day of the Day-Night Test.
Joe Root (57), Harry Brook (54), and Ben Foakes (51) struck half-centuries while Ollie Pope blasted 49, skipper Ben Stokes scored 33-ball 31 and Ollie Robinson contributed 39 runs as England left the hosts’ bowlers shell-shocked by their Bazball tactics, continuing to play attacking shots despite losing wickets at regular intervals.
Pacer Stuart Broad then claimed four wickets for 21 runs as England reduced the hosts to 63/5, setting themselves up on course for a big win.
On Sunday, they will wrap up their 10th win in 11 Tests under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, while the Black Caps will have gone seven Tests without a victory.
Starting at the overnight score of 79/2 in 16 overs, the visitors raced to 237/6 thanks to half-centuries by former skipper Joe Root and Harry Brook and a 46-ball 49 by Ollie Pope.
Though they lost nightwatchman Stuart Broad early, Pope and Root raised a half-century partnership for the fourth wicket in quick time.
After Pope departed, Root and Brook added 81 runs for the fifth wicket partnership before Brook and Root departed in quick succession. Foakes and Stokes then added 68 runs for the seventh wicket
In the process, Stokes set the record for hitting the most sixes in Test cricket, blasting his 108th and 109th maximums to overtake his coach Brendon McCullum, who has struck 107 sixes in his Test career.
England were eventually out for 374 in 73.5 overs as they hammered 43 boundaries and eight sixes as they scored at a rate of 5.06 per over. Blair Tickner (3-55) and Michael Bracewell (3-68) were the most successful New Zealand bowlers.
Broad then took over the role of New Zealand’s tormentor, as he claimed 4-21 in 10 overs to put the visitors on the verge of victory.
On Saturday, Stuart Broad and James Anderson made history by claiming the record for most Test wickets as teammates from Australian greats Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.
The pair overtook their Australian rivals when Broad clean-bowled Devon Conway early in the final session of the ongoing first Test between England and New Zealand at the Bay Oval.
It was a record-breaking 1002nd Test scalp as teammates for Broad and Anderson, as the pair overtook the long-standing record that was previously held by McGrath and Warne (1001), the ICC informed in a report on its official website.
Brief scores:
England 325-9 & 374 all out in 73.5 overs (Joe Root 57, Harry Brook 54, Ben Foakes 51, Ollie Pope 49, Ollie Robinson 39; Blair Tickner 3-55, Michael Bracewell 3-68) lead New Zealand 306 & 63-5 in 23 overs (Tom Latham 15; Stuart Broad 4-21).
–IANS
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