Blackcaps v England: First test, day two at Mount Maunganui – Live

Kia ora, good afternoon, and welcome to Newshub’s live coverage of the first test between the Blackcaps and England from Mount Maunganui.

New Zealand will resume day two at 37/3 with Devon Conway (17*) and Neil Wagner (4*) at the crease in reply to England’s rapid 325/9 declaration.

‘Bazball’ was promised and so it delivered, with the visiting batters devastating the Blackcaps bowlers with illustrious shots at Bay Oval.

New Zealand’s new-look bowling attack struggled, with veteran Neil Wagner the pick of the bunch with a four-for.

With Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, and Henry Nicholls already dismissed, the Blackcaps face an uphill battle in reply to England’s fast start.

Join us at 2pm for the first ball as New Zealand look to build on their score and climb into England’s lead.

TAB odds: New Zealand $3.50, England $1.45, draw $7.50

New Zealand XI: 1-Tom Latham, 2-Devon Conway, 3-Kane Williamson, 4-Henry Nicholls, 5-Daryl Mitchell, 6-Tom Blundell (wk), 7-Michael Bracewell, 8-Scott Kuggeleijn, 9-Tim Southee (captain), 10-Neil Wagner, 11-Blair Tickner.

England XI: 1-Zak Crawley, 2-Ben Duckett, 3-Ollie Pope, 4-Joe Root, 5-Harry Brook, 6-Ben Stokes (captain),7-Ben Foakes (wk), 8-Ollie Robinson, 9-Jack Leach, 10-Stuart Broad, 11-James Anderson.

‘I would have laughed’: Neil Wagner’s milestone ‘silver lining’ against dominant England

By Reece Labuschagne

New Zealand’s bowlers were at the mercy of ‘Bazball’ on day one of the first test against England, but there was at least consolation to be found for the engine of their attack.

As the Blackcaps toiled against the high-octane approach from the tourists, veteran Neil Wagner quietly reached a special milestone of 250 test wickets.

With their bowling stocks depleted, Wagner was entrusted with sharing the new ball with captain Tim Southee.

But it wasn’t until the ball got older, and the challenge that much harder, that the left-arm fast bowler struck, removing Joe Root after an audacious reverse slap.

It would take almost another 30 overs for Wagner to grab his second, bowling star batter Harry Brooke, before cleaning up the tail.

In his very next over, he dismissed Ben Foakes, and with that, brought up 250 test wickets for the Blackcaps, before appropriately grabbing the last, as England declared at 325/9.

The South African-born fast bowler admits he never imagined he would reach the landmark after making his test debut for his adopted country in 2012.

“If you told me the day I started playing test cricket I’d take 250 wickets, I would have laughed and said ‘no, I don’t believe you’.

“It’s something pretty special to achieve – I don’t really try and focus on those things too much, just try and find a way of contributing to the team and those things will take care of itself.

“But it’s a little silver lining in the backend of it and it’s quite nice to celebrate it and toast that with your teammates who has played a big part in all of those [wickets].”

Wagner’s contribution on day one wasn’t just limited to the ball, as he survived a tricky period as nightwatchman to protect New Zealand’s middle order.

The Blackcaps will enter day two at 37/3, with Devon Conway (17*) at the crease with Wagner (4*), and still trailing by 288 runs.

But Wagner remains optimistic about his side’s chances and is challenging the Blackcaps to follow England’s lead and adapt to the conditions.

“I thought when it got to the point when they bowled under lights, you could see that it was a little bit better and there was more assistance because the wind died down,” he said.

“Obviously under lights, with no wind around, it’s going to swing around, and they made full use of that and bowled really well and put us under pressure.

“If we can do the same tomorrow and build partnerships, try and get through that day period and try and get ourselves to bowl under lights, we can find ourselves in a similar position.

“It could’ve easily have gone the other way and I think everyone knows, can see, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that at night time it does swing around, and it does seem to do quite a lot off the wicket.

“A tough period to bat, and I thought we handled it quite well, three quality England bowlers bowling in conditions that were very favourable and really challenging and that’s what test cricket is all about.”