England’s miserable winter ends on a low as New Zealand hang on for draw and claim 1-0 series victory
Stuart Broad took two wickets with his first two balls but stout resistance by the Kiwi batsmen allowed them to hang on for a draw
STUART BROAD’S sensational start to the final day was not enough to prevent England securing an unwanted and embarrassing record.
Broad took two wickets with his first two balls and England looked as though they would force a series-levelling victory over New Zealand in the Second Test.
But stout resistance by the Kiwi batsmen allowed them to hang on for a draw with eight wickets down.
It means England have now gone 13 overseas Tests without a victory – and that is their all-time longest sequence without winning away from home.
England put down four catches in the Blackcaps’ second innings – two each by James Vince and Mark Stoneman – and plenty of edges flew narrowly out of reach of fielders.
But New Zealand deserved their series win over the course of the two Tests.
The questions over England’s batting and who will eventually replace Broad and James Anderson have not been solved.
A 4-0 defeat in the Ashes and a 1-0 reverse against the Kiwis represents a miserable Test winter for England although they were generally superb in 50-over cricket.
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Broad became only the fourth bowler in Test history to take two wickets with the first two balls of a day.
He coaxed opener Jeet Raval into clipping a catch to mid-wicket and then came the big one when Kane Williamson edged behind. It was the first golden duck of the Kiwi captain’s Test career.
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Somerset spinner Jack Leach took his first Test wicket when Ross Taylor swept to Alastair Cook at backward square leg. Cook had been positioned there only the ball before.
Henry Nicholls was held in the slips as he aimed a drive at Anderson. New Zealand were four wickets down inside the first hour.
But the middle and lower-order resisted with skill and good sense. Overs ticked away, England tried everything but breakthroughs became more and more rare.
Wicketkeeper B.J.Watling glanced straight to Anderson at leg slip, opener Tom Latham fell to a diving catch by Vince as he swept Leach after using up 207 balls.
Colin de Grandhomme had faced 97 deliveries when he hooked a catch to fine leg. Perhaps the biggest hero for New Zealand was No.8 Ish Sodhi, a leg-spinner by trade, who took root for a total of 168 balls and finished 56 not out.
Stoneman was guilty of the most costly dropped catches – he spilled de Grandhomme on six at cover and Sodhi at silly point before he had scored. Leach was the unfortunate bowler on both occasions.
Sodhi found a staunch ally in Neil Wagner and they saw out 31 overs together. Wagner was caught off the bowling of Joe Root but the umpires called off play for bad light with five scheduled minutes remaining.
England sent out their reserve players and back-room staff to the boundary to act as ball boys – throwing the ball back if it went for four to save time. But it was all to no avail.
Anderson broke a record of his own when he became the fast bowler to send down more overs than any other in Test history – surpassing the previous record of 5003.1 by former Windies speedster Courtney Walsh.