Century by Cricket-Brook rescues England in opening test against New Zealand

Harry Brook's exceptional century propelled England back into contention in the first test in Christchurch on Friday. The talented batsman led the tourists to within just 29 runs of New Zealand's total of 348, finishing the day at 319 for five.

The tourists were well and truly on the ropes at 71-4 in the second session but Brook and Ollie Pope put together a battling partnership of 151 for the fifth wicket to cut the deficit in half by tea.

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transform: rotate(32deg); animation: shinerMooving 3s infinite; z-index: 1; filter: blur(1px); } @keyframes shinerMooving { 0% { left: -40px; } 100% { left: 150%; } } Top 15 buys at IPL 2025 Auction Rishabh Pant ₹ 27 Cr DC LSG Total Match 111 Total Runs 3284 Highest Score 128 runs Shreyas Iyer ₹ 26.75 Cr KKR PBKS Total Match 115 Total Runs 3127 Highest Score 96 runs Venkatesh Iyer ₹ 23.75 Cr KKR KKR Total Match 50 Total Runs 1326 Highest Score 104 runs Wickets 3 Best Bowling 2/29 Arshdeep Singh ₹ 18 Cr PBKS PBKS Total Match 65 Total Runs 29 Highest Score 10 runs Wickets 76 Best Bowling 5/32 Yuzvendra Chahal ₹ 18 Cr RR PBKS Total Match 260 Total Runs 37 Highest Score 8 runs Wickets 205 Best Bowling 5/40 Jos Buttler ₹ 15.75 Cr RR GT Total Match 107 Total Runs 3582 Highest Score 124 runs KL Rahul ₹ 14 Cr LSG DC Total Match 132 Total Runs 4683 Highest Score 132 runs Trent Boult ₹ 12.50 Cr RR MI Total Match 104 Total Runs 83 Highest Score 17 runs Wickets 121 Best Bowling 4/18 Jofra Archer ₹ 12.50 Cr MI RR Total Match 35 Total Runs 195 Highest Score 27 runs Wickets 46 Best Bowling 3/15 Josh Hazlewood ₹ 12.50 Cr RCB RCB Total Match 12 Total Runs - Highest Score - Wickets 12 Best Bowling 3/24 Mohammed Siraj ₹ 12.25 Cr RCB GT Total Match 93 Total Runs 109 Highest Score 14 runs Wickets 93 Best Bowling 4/21 Mitchell Starc ₹ 11.75 Cr KKR DC Total Match 41 Total Runs 105 Highest Score 29 runs Wickets 51 Best Bowling 4/15 Phil Salt ₹ 11.50 Cr DC RCB Total Match 21 Total Runs 653 Highest Score 89 runs Ishan Kishan ₹ 11.25 Cr MI SRH Total Match 105 Total Runs 2644 Highest Score 99 runs Wickets - Best Bowling - Jitesh Sharma ₹ 11 Cr PBKS RCB Total Match 40 Total Runs 730 Highest Score 49 runs Check Full Coverage

Both benefited from some uncharacteristically sloppy fielding from the Black Caps before Glenn Phillips produced a gully catch for the ages off the bowling of Tim Southee to remove Pope for 77.

Brook, having brought up his half century with one of his two sixes, forged on to pass 2,000 career runs and secured his seventh century in 22 tests when he sent one of his 10 fours racing to the Hagley Oval boundary.

The 25-year-old reached 132 from 163 deliveries at stumps with his captain Ben Stokes alongside him on 37 not out and English hopes of taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series very much revived.

"Obviously, very pleased to put together a partnership with Harry Brook out there," said Pope, who was playing down the batting order as emergency wicketkeeper.

"They bowled really well early, some pretty good balls in there ... so from where we were to where we're finishing the day, the boys are really happy with what's on the scoreboard.

"Should be a good day tomorrow to hopefully push a button in the morning and put them under some pressure."

It had all looked much bleaker when, with opener Zak Crawley having already fallen for a duck, Jacob Bethell and Joe Root departed cheaply in the last over before lunch at the hands of all-rounder Nathan Smith.

Smith removed fellow test debutant Bethell for 10 with an outside edge before Root, playing his 150th test, chopped on for a duck four balls later.

Ben Duckett, the other opener, tried to get the scoring moving but holed out in the deep for 46 trying an ambitious pull shot off Will O'Rourke to leave the tourists floundering.

Smith finished the day with figures of two for 86, having experienced both the joy and the frustrations of the longest form of the game.

The last of a half dozen dropped catches by Black Caps came off Smith's bowling when skipper Tom Latham put down his counterpart Stokes at short cover a few overs before the close of play.

"I thought we bowled pretty well in periods but yeah, England batted well to get themselves into this position," said Smith.

"A couple of catches go to hand there, and it's a completely different story. They got a couple of good partnerships and we just need to break with the new ball tomorrow."

Earlier, seamer Brydon Carse took 4-64 and spinner Shoaib Bashir 4-69 for England but an unbeaten 58 from Phillips helped New Zealand extend their overnight tally by 29 runs at the cost of their last two wickets.

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