New Zealand v England, 2012-13

At Wellington (Basin Reserve), March 14-18, 2013. Drawn. Toss: New Zealand.
Bang on cue, after drought had left Wellington within three weeks of the taps running dry, Cyclone Sandra had the final say. It may have been immaterial: as eco-warriors and cricket lovers objected to a planned flyover, which threatened to compromise views around the eastern side of New Zealand's oldest Test ground, curator Brett Sipthorpe's own strip of tarmac would probably have refused to yield a result - even if he had detonated half a dozen sticks of dynamite on a good length. At a venue where England had a fine record of only one defeat in ten previous Tests, they had to settle for soggy anticlimax. The teams would head for Auckland neck and neck once more.

The game began hours after puffs of white smoke at the Vatican had heralded the election of Pope Francis - only for McCullum to commit the cardinal sin of inserting England with neither the conditions nor the fresh attack to back him up. His bowlers had been detained in the field for 170 overs at Dunedin the previous weekend, and were now condemned to another 147 of footslog, spanning ten and a quarter hours. On the first afternoon, one spectator had come dressed as the Pope; it is not known whether McCullum received his forgiveness.

Sipthorpe's tribute to Wellington's highways department proved an ideal surface for Compton - still reassuringly stodgy but playing with more conviction off the front foot -to unfurl a second consecutive hundred. At Dunedin, his father Richard had been an ever present cheerleader on the boundary, and Compton appreciatively compared his support to the eye contact maintained by tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal with their coaches. This time, Compton senior tried to stay hidden under the Basin Reserve's line of crimson pohutukawa trees, away from the all-seeing TV cameras. But, as if by magic, he reappeared on the picket fence, a portrait of paternal joy, when Compton's 15th four, a cover-drive off Wagner, took him to three figures. Dad celebrated with a cone of French fries from the catering stall next to the scoreboard - confirming, perhaps, the adage about chips off the old block.

By the time Compton fell, driving wearily at Martin, he had added 210 in 63 overs with Trott, an England record for the second wicket in New Zealand. For Trott, remorseless off his pads, a ninth Test hundred was steady, chanceless and almost inevitable. Moving through the gears - from neutral to first - he reached his half-century off 106 deliveries, completed his hundred in a further 68, then forensically chiselled his way to 121 from the next 60 before stumps. It was a let-down when he was caught behind off Boult from the first ball he faced next morning.

Pietersen, his movement clearly restricted by his knee injury - despite being passed fit - hit his only six of the tour, a straight blow off Martin. But it felt like a token act of aggression amid three and a half hours of what, by his standards, resembled near-pacifism. Instead, New Zealand spirits were suppressed by Prior, carving through the off side like a chef mutilating the Sunday roast with a chainsaw. His 82 from 99 balls gave England their highest total at Wellington, and their bowlers a licence to attack fuller lengths than they had explored on the doormat of Dunedin.

Broad picked up the gauntlet superbly. Fast, straight and working up a locomotive's head of steam, he partly attributed his six for 51 - figures he had bettered only twice in Tests - to his sister Gemma, England's video analyst. She had compiled a DVD of his greatest hits, and spotted an optimum angle of delivery on the return crease (wider of the stumps, essentially) as a common denominator in his best spells. When Broad dismissed Rutherford, then castled Taylor next ball, New Zealand were in trouble; when they were reduced to 89 for five in the opening half-hour of the third morning, they were flirting with a rout. But a stand of 100 between McCullum and Watling occupied 31 overs, and bought valuable time as Cyclone Sandra spun like a tumble-dryer towards the Cook Strait. New Zealand ultimately missed their follow-on target by 12, and England's only hope was to hustle them out a second time. Not since Durban in 1999- 2000 had they enforced the follow-on in an overseas Test. On that occasion, South Africa's Gary Kirsten responded with 275; a different kind of obstacle awaited England now.

There was brief hope as Panesar, bowling selflessly into a stiff wind, snared Rutherford in the leg trap. But once Williamson - compact and technically assured, especially off the back foot - and Taylor had negotiated 31 overs on the fourth day, steady drizzle and pulses of more organised rain confirmed England's worst fears. In all, 145 overs were lost. In truth, it would have taken a Herculean effort from Cook's tiring bowlers to dislodge the New Zealanders again on such a true surface. England's fast bowling coach David Saker made some unflattering remarks about how the local pitches were turning the series into a monument to attrition. But his comments were not intended as sour grapes, more a tacit admission that his much-fancied seam attack was struggling to make the predicted impact.

McCullum insisted he had no pangs of guilt about bowling first, and was never fearful he had made the wrong call, or he would "never get out of bed in the morning". He blamed his bowlers' innocuous efforts on the first day on flawed execution of plans rather than fatigue. On the eve of the Test, McCullum had raised eyebrows by claiming Cook was a "genius", adding that, on recent form, his batting was "as good as anyone who has played the game, barring probably Bradman". As if to prove that flattery gets you everywhere, Cook had tamely chipped Wagner to mid-on for 17. But, as the England captain later spoke of the "cup final" awaiting both sides at Eden Park, any fever pitch - amid a deluge that ended 32 days without rain in Wellington - seemed closer to the Boat Race.
Close of play: first day, England 267-2 (Trott 121, Pietersen 18); second day, New Zealand 66-3 (Williamson 32, Brownlie 8); third day, New Zealand 77-1 (Fulton 41, Williamson 16); fourth day, New Zealand 162-2 (Williamson 55, Taylor 41).