Dinner England 279 for 5 (Brook 79*, Foakes 27*) vs New Zealand
And yet, the startling speed of Duckett’s and Brook’s innings were such that England had already posted more runs in two sessions than most teams would usually manage in three. Each man was following on from outstanding performances in the 3-0 series win in Pakistan before Christmas, with Brook in particular now in possession of some of the most startling statistics in all of Test history – 559 runs at 93.16 in seven innings to date, at a strike-rate of 95.55 to boot.
A remarkable 62 of Brook’s runs came in boundaries – 14 fours, the majority scorched through point, and one towering six down the ground off Tim Southee as he turned on the style late in the session, with the floodlights beginning to kick in. And when the final session gets underway, he’ll have the chance to push onto the one record that has been threatened since the start of the Bazball era – Gilbert Jessop’s legendary 76-ball century, the fastest by an England batter in Test history.
For most of the first session, it seemed that Duckett would be the man to get there first. Instead, having posted a 36-ball fifty – the fastest by an England Test opener – he climbed through one too many drives and picked out Michael Bracewell in the covers to hand Tickner his maiden wicket. He too struck 14 fours in his innings, including a mid-morning volley of seven in 14 balls, as New Zealand’s quicks were cut to ribbons by his fast hands and combative attitude.
After the misleadingly early loss of Zak Crawley for 4, England’s own hunger for runs was at times the most pressing threat to their ambitions. From a formidable base of 152 for 2 shortly after tea, England slipped to a mid-session nadir of 209 for 5, when the captain Ben Stokes scuffed an over-eager pull straight at short midwicket to hand Kuggeleijn a notable first scalp.
By this stage, Joe Root – the other established great in England’s ranks – had come and gone in another devil-may-care innings of 14 from 22 balls that was capped by another of his favourite ramps over deep third off Neil Wagner, but was then ended by the same stroke four overs later, as Wagner fired the ball out a touch wider of off stump, for Daryl Mitchell to pre-empt the under-edged chance with a dive to his right at slip.
If there is occasionally a sense that England are in danger of over-reaching themselves with this bold new attitude, it had been heightened one over prior to Root’s dismissal, when Ollie Pope – quietly in control of his own tempo on 42 from 65 balls – was undone by arguably the first spell of sustained pressure that New Zealand managed all day. Though their day’s first maiden over wouldn’t come until the 47th over, Southee had limited Pope to eight dot-balls in ten deliveries when he speared one in from wider on the crease, and induced a hard-handed drive to slip.
And yet, if England are wont to die by the sword, then they are equally determined to live their best lives by it in between whiles. By dinner, Ben Foakes was settling into the vibe as well, with a burgeoning knock of 27 from 33 balls, in a sixth-wicket stand of 70 in just 10.1 overs.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket