The scenes at Basin Reserve were unreal as New Zealand completed an emphatic 1-run win over rivals England after following on. It is just the fourth time that a team came back after following on to win the game, with the dramatic 1-run win, New Zealand became the third team after India and England to have achieved the feat. This is just the second time in Test history that any team has won a Test at just a single run’s margin.
New Zealand won the toss and invited England out to bat first. They accepted the invitation with open arms slamming 435 on a tricky surface before declaring their innings. Harry Brooks slammed a mammoth 186 off 176 while Joe Root remained unbeaten on 153 off 224. In reply, New Zealand could only manage 209 runs before being bowled out inside 54 overs.
Kane Williamson became the highest Test run-scorer for New Zealand
The Black Caps were forced to follow on. However, this time it was an entirely different story as New Zealand batters got off to a great start riding on their openers scoring half-centuries. Kane Williamson also scored a hundred whilst becoming the highest run-scorer for New Zealand in Tests getting past Ross Taylor. They set England a tricky target of 258 runs. At the end of Day 4, England batted at 48/1 requiring 210 more runs to seal the win on the final day.
However, New Zealand bowlers had slightly different plans as the trio of Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, and Matt Henry cleaned up English batters inside 75 overs leaving them two short of the target. Wagner picked up four while Southee had three scalps and Matt Henry got two. The Black Caps snatched the win by one run in a Test match to be remembered for the ages. Harry Brooks was adjudged the man of the series for his exceptional run-scoring while the record-breaker Kane Williamson bagged the man of the match award.
Naturally, fans were quick to react to the memorable victory. Here’s how the fans reacted:
1 run ki keemat tum kya jano…
— Cric Wizard (@CricWizz_13579) February 28, 2023
BGT mein toh teen din chalta hai bass
— Cricket Fan 07 (@Manas_pr_sharma) February 28, 2023
May red ball cricket never die??
— Vikrant Jain (@Vikrant_Jain10) February 28, 2023
— DhoniFanRoshan ? (@ItsRoshan124) February 28, 2023
Test match at it best. That’s why I love test matches more than white ball cricket. #NZvENG
— Rashid (@Rash_sf) February 28, 2023
Similar to this test, won after being forced to follow on pic.twitter.com/syZcCHeAF5
— ????????? (@NO_VIS0R) February 28, 2023
They took guidance from Captain KL Rahul ?
— Harsh (@cricketharshh) February 28, 2023
Jimmy baby crying ? pic.twitter.com/vkQPXXLVOL
— ????????????( Fan Account ) (@subhu__RO45) February 28, 2023
Their inspiration is King Kohli ?
— Mr. President (@ShaaravTodankar) February 28, 2023
