Hearts and minds are one thing but what New Zealand really wanted to win was this Test. At Headingley, the ground where they first claimed a Test victory in England more than 30 years ago, they had to battle the weather, which took almost a day out of the game, and an England side still swaggering from their heroics at Lord’s last week.
They overcame both with time to spare, having scored 804 runs at almost five an over and twice rattled through England with pace, swing and, on the final day, spin. Every member of the side contributed to their victory in the second Investec Test, one which levelled the series and preserved a two-year unbeaten run. In 54 Tests against England in England, it was only New Zealand’s fifth victory and their first of the 21st century.
New Zealand were on the brink of only their fifth Test victory in England after removing three more wickets during the afternoon session, including that of Alastair Cook after a dogged half-century. Kane Williamson took his tally to three wickets as New Zealand strode confidently towards a series-levelling win in the Headingley sunshine.
England had gone to lunch five down, any bravado about attempting to chase 455 scattered to the far corners of the Yorkshire Ridings. Cook was their chief hope of saving the game but he fell shortly after having become the youngest man to record 9000 Test runs, leaving Jos Buttler as the last recognised batsman. When Cook failed in an attempt to reverse his lbw decision against Williamson, who struck in the first over of a spell for the second time, Brendon McCullum must have sensed things going his way.
Buttler showed a different side to his game by playing with admirable restraint to get through to tea. He survived a review for caught down the leg side off Tim Southee and was worked over by Matt Henry, who followed a throat ball with one that took the outside edge and fell short of slip; Buttler also required treatment after a length ball from Henry leapt to strike him a vicious blow on the hand.
New Zealand enjoyed a perfect morning at Headingley, Trent Boult and Mark Craig taking two wickets apiece in the first hour to help New Zealand once again seize the initiative. Only a scattering of spectators had braved another icy morning – despite reduced ticket prices – as the people of Yorkshire decided England were not worth the investment. Despite almost a full day being lost to poor weather in this match, New Zealand were set to win with time to spare.
Still, for the couple of thousand in attendance as well as those watching on television screens around the world, there was much to admire in the way New Zealand went about their business, each wicket celebrated with joyous collective abandon. McCullum’s side have not lost a Test series since their last visit to England in 2013 and they have won many more admirers besides for the spirit in which they approach a challenge.
If England did intend to play positively and keep the threat of a world-record run chase in the back of Kiwi minds, it was not easy to discern. Five of the first six overs were maidens, one of which included the wicket of Adam Lyth, caught behind after nicking a good one from Boult. With Boult making the ball swing under grey skies and McCullum able to do much as he pleased with his fielders, England regressed into the defensive posture that has frequently cost them in recent years.
Lyth was always the likelier of England’s openers to press New Zealand back with his strokeplay but his dismissal without adding to his overnight score brought the seemingly ill-at-ease Gary Ballance to the middle. Despite an attempt to counter a perceived weakness against full, swinging deliveries by batting out of his crease (before stepping back in as per his trigger movement), he was undone by the skills of Boult for the second time in the match. Lightning struck twice, this time via a full ball deflecting off the pads and into off stump.
The offspinner, Craig, who England dealt with brusquely at Lord’s, was able to settle into a rhythm from the Kirkstall Lane End and he gained rich reward halfway through the session, removing Ian Bell and Joe Root within the space of three deliveries.
Both fell to excellent leg-side catches, though the decision making – from Bell in particular – was questionable. Having seen McCullum instruct Kane Williamson to go and stand at leg slip, Bell went back into his crease and steered the ball obligingly straight to the fielder, who scooped it off the ground with glee. Root struck his leg glance much more powerfully, only for Tom Latham’s woolly jumper to absorb the impact and his hands to gratefully clutch the ball.
Cook is the exception for whom obdurate occupation of the crease is his greatest strength and he absorbed 171 balls in making 56, bowing his head over the bat like a monk at prayer. Cook and Ben Stokes had begun something of a revival, adding 40 runs together and ticking off almost 16 overs, when the part-time spin of Kane Williamson broke through once more, Stokes caught at the wicket attempting to cut. With more than 60 overs remaining, New Zealand were halfway to their target.
| New Zealand 1st innings | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
MJ Guptill | c Bell b Anderson | 0 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
|
TWM Latham | c Root b Broad | 84 | 224 | 180 | 13 | 0 | 46.66 |
|
KS Williamson | c †Buttler b Anderson | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
|
LRPL Taylor | lbw b Broad | 20 | 51 | 27 | 4 | 0 | 74.07 |
|
BB McCullum* | c Wood b Stokes | 41 | 44 | 28 | 6 | 1 | 146.42 |
|
BJ Watling | b Wood | 14 | 22 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 73.68 |
|
L Ronchi† | c Anderson b Broad | 88 | 99 | 70 | 13 | 3 | 125.71 |
| MD Craig | not out | 41 | 75 | 63 | 5 | 1 | 65.07 | |
|
TG Southee | c Lyth b Wood | 1 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
|
MJ Henry | c †Buttler b Broad | 27 | 27 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 128.57 |
|
TA Boult | c Lyth b Broad | 15 | 24 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 136.36 |
| Extras | (b 4, lb 14, nb 1) | 19 | ||||||
| Total | (all out; 72.1 overs) | 350 | (4.84 runs per over) | |||||
Fall of wickets 1-2 (Guptill, 2.2 ov), 2-2 (Williamson, 2.4 ov), 3-68 (Taylor, 14.6 ov), 4-123 (McCullum, 25.1 ov), 5-144 (Watling, 30.5 ov), 6-264 (Latham, 54.6 ov), 7-265 (Ronchi, 56.2 ov), 8-281 (Southee, 60.2 ov), 9-310 (Henry, 66.6 ov), 10-350 (Boult, 72.1 ov)
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | 0s | 4s | 6s | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
JM Anderson | 13 | 3 | 43 | 2 | 3.30 | 62 | 7 | 0 | |
|
SCJ Broad | 17.1 | 0 | 109 | 5 | 6.34 | 65 | 16 | 2 | (1nb) |
|
MA Wood | 14 | 4 | 62 | 2 | 4.42 | 63 | 13 | 0 | |
|
BA Stokes | 17 | 4 | 70 | 1 | 4.11 | 73 | 11 | 1 | |
| MM Ali | 11 | 3 | 48 | 0 | 4.36 | 46 | 4 | 3 |
| England 1st innings | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
A Lyth | run out (Boult/†Ronchi) | 107 | 290 | 212 | 15 | 0 | 50.47 |
|
AN Cook* | lbw b Craig | 75 | 226 | 187 | 12 | 0 | 40.10 |
|
GS Ballance | b Boult | 29 | 88 | 67 | 6 | 0 | 43.28 |
|
IR Bell | c Craig b Southee | 12 | 65 | 35 | 1 | 1 | 34.28 |
|
JE Root | c †Ronchi b Southee | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
|
BA Stokes | c Craig b Boult | 6 | 21 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 35.29 |
|
JC Buttler† | c Taylor b Southee | 10 | 30 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 38.46 |
|
MM Ali | c Guptill b Southee | 1 | 21 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 7.14 |
|
SCJ Broad | b Henry | 46 | 70 | 39 | 5 | 1 | 117.94 |
|
MA Wood | c †Ronchi b Craig | 19 | 41 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 57.57 |
| JM Anderson | not out | 10 | 25 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 62.50 | |
| Extras | (b 19, lb 5, w 5, nb 5) | 34 | ||||||
| Total | (all out; 108.2 overs) | 350 | (3.23 runs per over) | |||||
Fall of wickets 1-177 (Cook, 58.6 ov), 2-215 (Lyth, 74.5 ov), 3-238 (Ballance, 80.3 ov), 4-239 (Root, 81.2 ov), 5-247 (Stokes, 86.2 ov), 6-257 (Bell, 89.2 ov), 7-266 (Buttler, 93.3 ov), 8-267 (Ali, 93.6 ov), 9-318 (Wood, 101.6 ov), 10-350 (Broad, 108.2 ov)
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | 0s | 4s | 6s | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
TA Boult | 30 | 7 | 98 | 2 | 3.26 | 138 | 13 | 0 | (1nb, 1w) |
|
TG Southee | 30 | 5 | 83 | 4 | 2.76 | 138 | 9 | 0 | (2w) |
|
MJ Henry | 20.2 | 4 | 92 | 1 | 4.52 | 92 | 16 | 1 | (2w) |
|
MD Craig | 26 | 12 | 48 | 2 | 1.84 | 133 | 6 | 1 | |
| KS Williamson | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2.50 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| New Zealand 2nd innings | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
TWM Latham | c †Buttler b Broad | 3 | 24 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17.64 |
|
MJ Guptill | c Root b Wood | 70 | 127 | 72 | 7 | 1 | 97.22 |
|
KS Williamson | c †Buttler b Broad | 6 | 16 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 30.00 |
|
LRPL Taylor | c Stokes b Wood | 48 | 65 | 48 | 5 | 1 | 100.00 |
|
BB McCullum* | lbw b Wood | 55 | 139 | 98 | 3 | 1 | 56.12 |
|
BJ Watling | c Root b Anderson | 120 | 206 | 163 | 15 | 1 | 73.61 |
|
L Ronchi† | c †Buttler b Anderson | 31 | 30 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 134.78 |
| MD Craig | not out | 58 | 102 | 77 | 9 | 1 | 75.32 | |
|
TG Southee | c Anderson b Ali | 40 | 41 | 24 | 6 | 1 | 166.66 |
| MJ Henry | not out | 12 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 300.00 | |
| Extras | (b 4, lb 6, w 1) | 11 | ||||||
| Total | (8 wickets dec; 91 overs) | 454 | (4.98 runs per over) | |||||
Did not batTA Boult
Fall of wickets 1-15 (Latham, 5.5 ov), 2-23 (Williamson, 9.4 ov), 3-122 (Taylor, 24.1 ov), 4-141 (Guptill, 28.4 ov), 5-262 (McCullum, 60.4 ov), 6-315 (Ronchi, 67.4 ov), 7-368 (Watling, 81.2 ov), 8-435 (Southee, 89.6 ov)
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | 0s | 4s | 6s | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
JM Anderson | 23 | 4 | 96 | 2 | 4.17 | 96 | 13 | 0 | (1w) |
|
SCJ Broad | 16 | 1 | 94 | 2 | 5.87 | 58 | 9 | 4 | |
|
MA Wood | 19 | 2 | 97 | 3 | 5.10 | 72 | 14 | 0 | |
| BA Stokes | 12 | 1 | 61 | 0 | 5.08 | 44 | 6 | 2 | ||
|
MM Ali | 16 | 0 | 73 | 1 | 4.56 | 57 | 4 | 3 | |
| JE Root | 5 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 4.60 | 19 | 3 | 0 |
| England 2nd innings (target: 455 runs) | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
A Lyth | c †Ronchi b Boult | 24 | 59 | 41 | 4 | 0 | 58.53 |
|
AN Cook* | lbw b Williamson | 56 | 217 | 171 | 4 | 0 | 32.74 |
|
GS Ballance | b Boult | 6 | 27 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 23.07 |
|
IR Bell | c Williamson b Craig | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10.00 |
|
JE Root | c Latham b Craig | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
|
BA Stokes | c †Ronchi b Williamson | 29 | 61 | 51 | 5 | 0 | 56.86 |
|
JC Buttler† | lbw b Craig | 73 | 172 | 147 | 13 | 1 | 49.65 |
|
MM Ali | b Henry | 2 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14.28 |
|
SCJ Broad | b Williamson | 23 | 37 | 35 | 5 | 0 | 65.71 |
|
MA Wood | c Craig b Southee | 17 | 39 | 40 | 2 | 0 | 42.50 |
| JM Anderson | not out | 8 | 21 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 57.14 | |
| Extras | (b 12, lb 2, w 2) | 16 | ||||||
| Total | (all out; 91.5 overs) | 255 | (2.77 runs per over) | |||||
Fall of wickets 1-47 (Lyth, 16.6 ov), 2-61 (Ballance, 24.6 ov), 3-62 (Bell, 27.4 ov), 4-62 (Root, 27.6 ov), 5-102 (Stokes, 43.5 ov), 6-141 (Cook, 57.3 ov), 7-153 (Ali, 62.2 ov), 8-188 (Broad, 73.1 ov), 9-230 (Wood, 85.4 ov), 10-255 (Buttler, 91.5 ov)
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | 0s | 4s | 6s | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
TA Boult | 23 | 4 | 61 | 2 | 2.65 | 107 | 6 | 0 | |
|
TG Southee | 18 | 7 | 43 | 1 | 2.38 | 90 | 6 | 0 | (1w) |
|
MD Craig | 31.5 | 12 | 73 | 3 | 2.29 | 166 | 12 | 1 | |
|
MJ Henry | 12 | 2 | 49 | 1 | 4.08 | 55 | 10 | 0 | (1w) |
|
KS Williamson | 7 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 2.14 | 34 | 2 | 0 |
MATCH DETAILS
Series – 2-match series drawn 1-1
Player of the match – tba
Sundeep B 