- 2nd Test, D3: England, 280 & 427-6d, bt N Zealand, 125 & 259, by 323 runs
- Hosts unable to make major inroads after being set 583 to win
England could scarcely have been made to feel more welcome in New Zealand, be it a warm-up game tailored to their specifications in Queenstown, those eight dropped catches in Christchurch, or the cheery ground announcer regaling spectators with Harry Brook’s eye-popping statistics throughout. Whatever happens on the other side of the Tasman this time next year, it is hard to imagine the latter taking place.
And what have England done in return? Pretty much bulldozed their way to securing the new Crowe-Thorpe Trophy in the space of seven days and with a third Test still to play. Sealed with a 323-run hammering in windy Wellington on Sunday, it made for England’s first series victory on these shores since 2008 – a tour, like this year, that saw the attack rebooted – and their first on the road since Pakistan in late 2022.
Ben Stokes, whose Kiwi mother, Deb, was among the Barmy Army this week, has also moved to 19 victories as England’s Test captain, one clear of Mike Brearley’s 18 from the same number of games (31). After the 2-1 defeat in Pakistan in October, a tour where he was consumed by his fitness and the stress of a burglary back home, Stokes has been rejuvenated in the country of his birth: bowling, back in the runs, and smiling.
