Late NZ wickets vindicate England declaration

England’s decision to declare on 325-9 was vindicated by three late wickets on day one of the day-night first Test against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui.

England wanted to be bowling with the pink ball under floodlights and their declaration after 58.2 overs was the second-earliest in the first innings of a match in the history of Test cricket.

After the tourists were asked to bat, opener Ben Duckett stroked a flowing 84 in the first session and Harry Brook enhanced his rapidly growing reputation with a sublime 89.

At other times, England’s desire to be aggressive tipped over into carelessness. They lost three wickets for 37 runs early in the day, while a final slip of 4-27 prompted the declaration and left pace bowler Neil Wagner with 4-82.

The pitch looks good for batting and the ball moved most in the night session – New Zealand might have been well placed to bat in the daytime on Friday had England not been so incisive late in the day.

Instead England, with nine wins in their past 10 Tests, snatched the upper hand.

England late show leaves them on top

This was a fascinating first day at a stunning venue, made all the more intriguing by the opposite styles of the two teams and the extra layer of complexity brought by the pink ball.

New Zealand will have been satisfied by their decision to field first after they worked through the visitors’ batting with an attack containing debutants Blair Tickner and Scott Kuggeleijn, only for England to trump the hosts with their late strikes.

It might have been even better for England. Almost all of their batters were complicit in their own downfall, with strokes ranging from loose to reckless.

It is a hyper-aggressive style that has brought England their recent success. To revel in the thrilling wins means accepting the times when the cavalier approach does not work. Still, England should probably have cashed in further against the inexperienced home bowling line-up.

The declaration in the floodlit final session was not unexpected – captains less innovative than Ben Stokes have made similar moves in previous day-night Tests.

From there, England were magnificent with the ball and would have had a fourth wicket had Zak Crawley not dropped Devon Conway off Anderson.

More to follow.