Top 5 bowling performances by Sir Richard Hadlee in Test cricket

#3 10-100 vs England at Wellington, 1978

Hadlee’s 6-26 in the second innings helped New Zealand defend a mere 136.

It was the opening test of England’s tour of New-Zealand during the 1977-78 season at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. England captain Geoffrey Boycott won the toss and elected to field first. The Kiwis were bowled out for 228 in the first innings thanks to some brilliant bowling from Chris Old who returned with figures of 6-54. England were off to a decent start and were 108/3 before Hadlee stepped up. Hadlee didn’t allow the English batsmen to stay at the crease for a long time and picked up four wickets for 74 runs as England were bowled out for 215, thus helping New Zealand to a 15-run lead prior to the second innings.However, the second innings was totally disastrous for the New Zealanders as they were skittled out for 123, this time Bob Willis being the architect of New Zealand’s damage. England were given a target of 137 to chase in order to win the match and were expected to comfortably chase down the target. However, they were struggling at 18/3 before Hadlee made things worse for England. He was ripping the English batsmen and eventually helped New Zealand to an astonishing 72-run victory as England were bowled out for 64 and Hadlee took 6-26 in the second innings. A match-winning spell indeed.