England 280 (Brook 123, Pope 66, Smith 4-86) and 427 for December 6 (Root 106, Bethell 96, Duckett 92, Brook 55) beat New Zealand 125 (Atkinson 4-31, Carse 4-46) and 259 (Blundell 115, Stokes 3-5) by 323 points
The main resistance came from Blundell, who smashed 13 fours and five sixes in an innings that could have been compared to Nathan Astle’s famous assault in Christchurch in 2002 had he sustained it for an extra hour. Shoaib Bashir was punished severely, but it was the bowler who ultimately saw Blundell off, although all credit goes to Ben Duckett, who anticipated Blundell’s attempt to collect and ran from slip to intercept him on along the leg on the second attempt. after pushing the ball away.
New Zealand were 59 for 4 when rain forced the players to have an early lunch, and Blundell could have been dismissed on the third ball after the restart. Jacob Bethell, at third slip, was unable to latch on to a thick outside edge off Carse, and Blundell was rock solid from that point on, first in a steadfast partnership with Daryl Mitchell , then with increased abandon as he and Smith slammed 96 from 82 balls.
Blundell’s fifth Test, taken from 96 balls shortly after the tea interval, may not have changed the result, but it was still an important personal milestone, coming after a period of 22 months during which he had averaged 13.52 in 14 Tests, with a half-century.
His dismissal, Bashir’s second wicket after that of Glenn Phillips in the afternoon session, was the signal for New Zealand to hoist the white flag. Matt Henry delivered Stokes’ fourth ball into the hands of diving Bethell at deep mid-wicket, before Smith pulled behind and Tim Southee, on his final Test appearance at Basin Reserve, fell swinging to the leg.
At this stage England were content to wait for victory to fall into their lap – but they had started the day hastily, Root scampering to his hundred before Stokes’ declaration gave them time to overturn the New Zealand top four before lunch.
This only increased when Woakes, playing into the wind, struck with his seventh pitch. Devon Conway may have made it look better than it was, leaving a big gap between bat and pad, but there was much to admire in Woakes’ swinging-seam pinch stand that kissed the top . Woakes then claimed the scalp of Kane Williamson with a kick and left the New Zealand number 3 for a slight advantage all the way to Ollie Pope.
Tom Latham fell to Carse, diving acrobatically to his right in his follow-up to hold a return on a leading edge. Mitchell responded with a burst of boundaries before Carse had Rachin Ravindra behind him to try to force a cut, the batter looking skyward as the rain began to fall.
England had resumed in a position of unprecedented comfort, sitting on a record second innings advantage of 533 after two days of play. There was time to play for milestones, although only 6.1 overs were needed to that Root reaches his hundred; Stokes then left with an unbeaten 49 to his name.
Root’s innings was a serene affair, but he went into triple figures in a somewhat unsightly manner, falling on his butt while attempting his famous reverse ramp. Fortunately, there was enough contact with his gloved hand for the ball to clear Blundell and bounce for four, allowing Root to celebrate with a cheeky smile. He was caught behind two balls later, at which point he and Stokes charged and the main event could begin.