New Zealand vs England, 2nd Test at Christchurch, Mar 30 2018, England tour of Australia and New Zealand

RESULT
2nd Test, Christchurch, March 30 - April 03, 2018, England tour of Australia and New Zealand
PrevNext
307 & 352/9d
(T:382) 278 & 256/8

Match drawn

Player Of The Match
6/62, 50 & 1/65
tim-southee
Player Of The Series
15 wkts
trent-boult
Match centre 
Scores: Ranjith P | Comms: Alan Gardner
Scorecard summary
England 307/10(96.5 overs)
1st INNINGS
101 (170)
6/62 (26)
52 (62)
4/87 (28.5)
New Zealand 278/10(93.3 overs)
1st INNINGS
85 (220)
6/54 (22.3)
England 352/9(106.4 overs)
2nd INNINGS
60 (139)
2/51 (22.4)
New Zealand 256/8(124.4 overs)
2nd INNINGS
83 (207)
2/61 (32)
56* (168)
2/45 (22)

6.30pm: Now that was a tantric hour (and a half) of Neil Wagner (and Ish Sodhi). Rarely does nothing happening appear so gripping, so congratulations to New Zealand for putting the Test and the series to bed. Miller has written up his report, and there'll be more odes to the game to come from Gnasher. Thanks for your company, it's been well worth the sleep deprivation and RSI. New Zealand's home summer is done with, England's set to begin in a few short weeks - we'll be back to bring you all of it, of course. Until then, from Miller, Gnasher and myself, it's goodnight and good luck. Cheerio!

6.15pm: Time for the presentations, Tim Southee is Man of the Match: "[Feeling?] Bit better now after that, rough couple of days but worth it in the end. It's come out nicely, good to get the whites on and see the ball move around it bit, good way to hose down the summer. [Boult?] We played a lot of cricket together, it's a partnership we enjoy, pleasing to be able to contribute to a series win. [Beating England?] Very special, first time in a while, first time for us, something we'll enjoy and savour for a long time."

Trent Boult is Man of the Series: "Phenomenal effort, credit to England, great fun to get over the line at the end. Myself and Tim, bowling together on these surfaces, we enjoy it. Sure we'll enjoy celebrating tonight. Test cricket is my favourite format, be nice to have a few more but been four goodies this summer."

England captain Joe Root: "Threw everything at NZ, very proud as a group and how we went about it, fair play to NZ. Bar that first inns [in Auckland] it has been very close, very frustrating that we let ourselves down. We've played some good cricket and showed what we're about. [Long time away?] You get used to it as a Test cricketer, you want to play in big series and we've had the opportunity. Hasn't gone as well as we'd liked. We'll take the good stuff from this week into the summer. Thought this was a great advert for Test cricket. Shame [not to win], but that's the way it is. Very proud of way we went about it, tried a number of things, few balls just out of reach and you need a bit of luck."

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson: "Amazing day of Test cricket. First let me thank the England team, hard fought series and it was so close through these matches, for it to come down to a day like this, was really special for the format. We didn't get off to the best start, first two balls we thought it could be a tough day. Lots of steel shown by the guys in the middle order and the two guys in the last session, phenomenal effort, England threw everything against us and they withstood it, an unbelievable effort. The bowling attack has been brilliant. Fantastic series, nice to be on the right side. Would have been nice to have a third Test, we've had some great games, lot of good white-ball games, so on the whole a good summer."

Yes! The umpires are saying that's it... New Zealand secure the draw! Sodhi punches the air, walks off to generous applause; the eighth-wicket pair batted through more than 31 overs to seal the series, their first victory over England since 1999! Williamson shakes Sodhi's hand, slaps him on the back, beaming through his beard... England can't say they didn't have a fair old crack, but NZ hang on, with two wickets in the bank and just about nothing left in the tank (or that may just be me).

Here's the hero of the last few hours, Ish Sodhi: "Yeah, rapped, bit of drama at the end, Waggy was really good through those tough periods, he's a fighter and dragged me along with him. I was just think about playing straight, there were tough periods but we got through them. Waggy kept me going, five more minutes, ten more minutes. We're just rapped for the series win. My fingers are pretty sore right now, all that intensity out there and you take it on the chin. Series wins against England don't come around very often, to be able to contribute is massive for me. All I could hear was the Barmy Army at the end, their songs were ringing in my head."

124.4
W
Root to Wagner, OUT

skidding on, into the pads - GIVEN! Up goes Oxenford's finger, but Wagner reviews straight away! Looks like he got an inside edge on this, which will save him from lbw... but the rebound was caught at silly point, so he is out after all! Wagner walks off to a huge ovation - but has he done enough to save it?

Neil Wagner c Vince b Root 7 (103b 1x4 0x6 107m) SR: 6.79
124.3
Root to Wagner, no run

Root floats the ball up full, smothered

124.2
Root to Wagner, no run

tossed up and defended

124.1
Root to Wagner, no run

Wagner blocks and raises his ton

Last over of the day, I think. The sun sinking below the skyline, and my arm's about to fall off... Here's Jamie: "I take it that Wagner is far beyond a 'Cowan' by now?" Not until he reaches 100, fella

end of over 1244 runs
NZ: 256/7CRR: 2.06 
Ish Sodhi56 (168b 9x4)
Neil Wagner7 (99b 1x4)
Dawid Malan 4-1-9-0
Jack Leach 32-15-61-2
123.6
Malan to Sodhi, no run

tossed up full, tapped away

123.5
Malan to Sodhi, no run

drifting a little straighter, more watertight defence

123.4
Malan to Sodhi, no run

looped up very full on off, jams the bat down on it

123.3
Malan to Sodhi, no run

tossed up, gets forward and blocks

123.2
Malan to Sodhi, no run

goes back to defending

Darryl Warren: "Who would have thought we would get more than 98 overs in?" That's among the many extraordinary things about today

123.1
4
Malan to Sodhi, FOUR runs

drops short again and Sodhi boshes another pull through the leg side, wastes a few more seconds

end of over 123Maiden
NZ: 252/7CRR: 2.04 
Neil Wagner7 (99b 1x4)
Ish Sodhi52 (162b 8x4)
Jack Leach 32-15-61-2
Dawid Malan 3-1-5-0

Just a few minutes left in the day... The gig is surely up for England?

122.6
Leach to Wagner, no run

lobbed up full on off stump, defended with familiar tenacity

122.5
Leach to Wagner, no run

fired in flat, Wagner gets another good chunk of bat on it

122.4
Leach to Wagner, no run

round the wicket, pushed through and defended on leg stump

122.3
Leach to Wagner, no run

lobbed up full, Wagner dead-bats some more

122.2
Leach to Wagner, no run

steps across and pushes the ball away

122.1
Leach to Wagner, no run

pushed through and blocked on off

Still there? On we go... All 13 players packed in together around the 22-yard strip

end of over 1224 runs
NZ: 252/7CRR: 2.06 
Ish Sodhi52 (162b 8x4)
Neil Wagner7 (93b 1x4)
Dawid Malan 3-1-5-0
Jack Leach 31-14-61-2

That's actually the final scheduled over, but because we're still in the final hour, England will squeeze in one or two more

121.6
Malan to Sodhi, no run

tapped away coming forwards - no way through here, pal

121.5
Malan to Sodhi, no run

gives it some air on off stump, Sodhi blocks

121.4
Malan to Sodhi, no run

pushed through and dabbed away on the back foot

121.3
Malan to Sodhi, no run

floated up full, Sodhi reaches out to defend

Best performances - batters
Spike Graph
Wagon Zone
JM Bairstow
101 runs (170)
11 fours1 six
Productive shot
cover drive
30 runs
2 fours1 six
Control
81%
BJ Watling
85 runs (220)
11 fours1 six
Productive shot
sweep shot
26 runs
5 fours1 six
Control
87%
Best performances - bowlers
TG Southee
O
26
M
7
R
62
W
6
ECO
2.38
FTYFGSGS
OFFLEG
RHB
1W
2W
LEGOFF
LHB
1W
2W
SCJ Broad
O
22.3
M
5
R
54
W
6
ECO
2.4
FTYFGSGS
OFFLEG
RHB
3W
1W
LEGOFF
LHB
1W
1W
Match details
Hagley Oval, Christchurch
TossNew Zealand, elected to field first
Series
Season2017/18
Player Of The Match
Player Of The Series
Series resultNew Zealand won the 2-match series 1-0
Match numberTest no. 2301
Hours of play (local time)11:00 start, Lunch 13.00-13.40, Tea 15.40-16.00, Close 18.00
Match days30, 31 March, 01, 02, 03 April 2018 - day (5-day match)
Test debut
Umpires
TV Umpire
Reserve Umpire
Match Referee
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