WATCH, NZ vs ENG | Stuart Broad's too-good-to-be-true deliveries emphatically castles Kiwi top-three

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Form is temporary, class is permanent, and a menacing Stuart Broad spell with the pink ball is simply inevitable. The pacer was in his groove against New Zealand as he decimated the top order with three quick scalps, including that of Kane Williamson, and openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway.

England continued to bring the funk to Test cricket at the Bay Oval on Friday as they pretty much cemented a victory with a phenomenal all-round display against New Zealand at the Bay Oval in the opening Test. Resuming the day with nearly a 100-run lead and two wickets down, half-centuries from Joe Root and Harry Brook helped the side blitz their way to 374, thereby setting a massive target of 394. Coming in to bat under the lights to face the pink new-ball against the mythical new-balling pair of Stuart Broad and James Anderson, there was little doubt about the direction in which the game was headed.

While Anderson made the ball hoop around a little early, it was Stuart Broad that ultimately stole the show for the visitors. The veteran inflicted the first blow on the last ball of the fourth over. Bowling around the wicket to left-hander Devon Conway, Broad angled a good length ball towards the stumps, inviting a drive from the batter only to find the gap between bat and pad. The stumps were sent flying and England had their first. The second wicket was even better, and arguably more significant given it was of former number one batter in the world Kane Williamson. Moving to over the wicket in the sixth over, another ball angling-in nipped back a hint from length to bamboozle Kane Williamson, piercing his defence emphatically before striking the top of the middle stump.

However, the 36-year-old had saved his best for last, as Tom Latham came to learn in the eighth over. The batter first edged the second ball to slip only for Zak Crawley to drop a simple catch but ultimately had to resign to his fate on the final delivery. His dismissal was similar to Conway's, only this time around the ball pitched significantly outside off but moved back in viciously to dismiss the opener all-hands up. The fierce opening spell helped Broad break a slew of long-standing records. While the first scalp made him and Anderson the bowling duo with the most wickets together in Tests, their 1,002 eclipsed the previous record held by Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. Broad also became the first English bowler to bowl the top-three batsmen of a side since Fred Trueman in 1960. At the time of writing, the Black Caps had already succumbed to 27/4 while Broad's figures read 6-2-15-3.

What a beauty!

Blessed to watch him bowl like this!

Hahaha!

Great spell so far!

No where close to water!

Brilliant piece of bowling!

One of best moment in life!

clean and classical!

this should be best day in life!

Batsmen were left speechles!

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