England vs New Zealand report: New Zealand nose ahead despite Anderson's 300

England 1^st innings 232 (Bairstow 41, Root 40 Sothee 4-58) New Zealand 153/4 (Taylor 72, Anderson 3-32) trail by 79 runs.

New Zealand bowlers were disciplined on Day 1. Trent Boult and Tim Southee were exceptional with the ball. The duo got the ball to swing both ways. Alastair Cook and Nick Compton had no answer to it. They rattled the England’s top order. But Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow steadied the ship for England on Day 2. Joe Root had the experience of playing at Lords and hence he was able to time the ball. Bairstow has been in remarkable form for England. He had an outstanding Series against West Indies and South Africa. He replicated the same performance against New Zealand.

But when Root looked in great touch, he was removed by Tim Southee. Tim Southee was getting the seam movement of the surface and that eventually helped him to get rid of Root. Matt Prior, who played a salvaging innings in New Zealand, did not make impact with the bat as he was trapped in front for nought. Bairstow was losing his partners regularly and therefore he could not play the shots. Stuart Broad was dead lbw to Wagner and he walked back to dressing room as soon as the umpire rasied his finger. He knew that it was full-length delivery and it was hitting the middle-stump and hence he did not review that decision. However, Steve Finn survived the swing till lunch as England ended the first session at 209/8.

Jonny Bairstow attacked the New Zealand bowlers post lunch session. Tim Southee went for 10 runs in his first over after lunch. But he returned with the wickets of Steve Finn and Jonny Bairstow. Therefore, England were bowled out for 232 in their first innings. Bairstow top-scored for England with 41 runs, while the second top-scorer was Jonathan Trott with 39 runs as rest of the batsmen were unable to offer resistance to the swing bowling of New Zealand.

England have bowlers in the form of Stuart Broad and James Anderson to test the Black Caps batsmen. James Anderson has the ability to swing the ball both ways. He certainly swung the ball both ways and New Zealand openers had no answer to it. Anderson, surprisingly, was getting extra-bit of bounce from the wicket. He claimed two wickets in his first spell to take his tally to 300. He outsmarted Rutherford with extra-bit of bounce and deceived Peter Fulton with late swing.

But post tea session, Ross Taylor attacked the English bowlers. Taylor played some delightful shots. The duo rotated the strike and put the pressure on the England fielders. Taylor scored a brisk half-century before getting dismissed for 72. Browne looked in great touch, but he was removed by Steve Finn. However, McCullum and Williamson combated the swing and finally ended the day on 152/4.

Cook has to take the blame for England’s poor batting display. Nevertheless, they grabbed three important wickets of the Black Caps. The wicket is offering something for the faster bowlers. Thus, England will be heavily reliant on Anderson and Steve Finn to deliver the goods on Day 3. New Zealand, on the other hand, will look to see off the first session as there will be hint of swing for Anderson. The sun is expected to come on Day 3 and that makes the wicket flat and dry. So, New Zealand have good chance of getting in excess of 350 runs on the board.