Wellington: England were invited to bat first in the second Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve, Wellington on Friday. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett started the innings for the visitors and the former kicked off the proceedings in some style. Facing Tim Southee in the first over, Crawley waited till the last ball to unleash his hitting ability. The right-handed batter then smashed the ball straight over Southee’s head and cleared the boundary rope at long-off for a maximum. England amassed 10 runs from the over and also Crawley inked his name in the record books with a six off the last delivery.
The 26-year-old became the only second batter in Test cricket to hit a six in the first over of the match. Also, it is only the third time in the history of Test cricket that a maximum is hit in the opening over of the red-ball fixture. Chris Gayle was the first batter to do so when he hit Sohag Gazi of Bangladesh for two sixes in 2012. Gayle smashed sixes against spinner back then but now Crawley became the first batter to hit a pacer for two sixes in the first over of the match.
Only Chris Gayle has completed the same feat 🚀 pic.twitter.com/0RD8kqIt4K
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 5, 2024
The sixth ball of the first over is the earliest any England batter has hit a six in the men’s Test. The previous earliest was by Arthur Milton in 1959 who cleared the fence on the second ball of the second over.
Although Crawley set a Test record, his stay at the crease was cut short early by Matt Henry who dismissed him on 17 runs. England were bundled out on 280 in the first innings with Harry Brook playing a valiant knock of 123 runs while Ollie Pope also played a crucial knock of 66 runs.
England will have an opportunity to secure their first Test series win in New Zealand since 2008 by winning the fixture.
