Day 4 of 5: New Zealand 388 (W Young 82, L Taylor 80, D Conway 80; S J Broad 4-48) and 41-2 (T Latham 23; O Stone 1-5) beat England 303 (D Lawrence 81no, R Burns 81; T Boult 4-85) & 122 (N Wagner 3-18, M Henry 3-36, A Patel 2-25) by eight wickets.
New Zealand completed victory against England on the fourth morning at Edgbaston, winning a one-sided match by eight wickets. Victory also sealed their third series win in this country, their first since 1999 and – despite all their team changes – their most emphatic to date.
Set a target of just 38 by England, there was not exactly much by way of scoreboard pressure but Devon Conway’s early dismissal, and then Will Young getting out with the Black Caps just five from their target, added some interest to the chase. There was also an excellent cameo from Tom Latham, whose 23 runs included his 4,000th in Tests, and a fine spell with the new ball from England’s old warriors, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad.
This at least gave the fans who made the trip to Birmingham to watch what amounted to 11 overs of cricket – the 10.5 that New Zealand needed to confirm victory and the single ball taken to end England’s second innings – something to cheer beyond the fact that, having witnessed less than the 15 overs that constitute an acceptable amount of play, they will shortly receive a full refund.
There can’t have been many England innings that ended as this one did, to the soundtrack of laughter. It was the only sensible response to what unfolded: the pumping soundtrack of the pre-match big-screen crowd-pumping video, the bombast of Jerusalem, the applause as the umpires and New Zealand walked to the middle, the roar as England’s two batsmen emerged, to a chorus of the depleted Barmy Army’s favourite Anderson chant.
Then came the hum of expectation as Trent Boult took the ball, strolled to the end of his run-up and started to run. And then it was over. The clock had not even struck 11am. Any latecomers, anyone who delayed taking their seat for so much of a second, missed the end of England’s innings completely. This wasn’t failure, it was farce.
For the record, Olly Stone was the last man out. His score of 15 runs brought his individual total for the match to 35, and meant he joined Mark Wood as the only England players to increase their first-class batting averages.
Anderson, watching from the Pavilion End and batting at No 11 for the 151st time in Tests, has been in the middle to witness the ignominious end of plenty of England innings, but even to him this must have been something new.
“You can have bad sessions on occasion with the ball but you can’t have a session like that with the bat,” Joe Root said afterwards. “More than anything it’s managing those scenarios: if we do lose a couple of quick wickets down, how are we going to manage a bit of pressure. We have to make sure we’re managing things mentally.”
Conway said: “Pretty special feeling to win here in England, first time since 1999. It’s a big step up, coming up against world-class bowlers in Jimmy Anderson and Broady and those guys. [We're] very excited, this is a very big win for us, getting used to the surfaces and the swing and the ball.” – Guardian
