On the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand, England were bundled out for just 58 runs as Trent Boult and Tim Southee ran through their batting line-up. 58 now happens to be England’s sixth-lowest total in Test cricket. Boult and Southee shared all ten wickets between them as England were bowled out in 20.4 overs. Put to bat, the visitors at one stage were reeling at 23/8 and were in danger of being bowled out for the all-time lowest score in Tests- 26. Thanks to Craig Overton’s unbeaten 33, England managed to cross that and their lowest total of 45.

Star of the day was Boult, who scalped 6/32. It happens to be his best bowling performance in Tests. Southee shared the new ball with Boult and picked other four wickets. As many as five English batsmen were dismissed for a duck. Barring Overton, no other England batsman managed to cross the 20-run mark with Mark Stoneman’s 11 being the second highest.

At the close of play, the hosts were comfortably placed at 175/3 and had a lead of 117 runs in their kitty. New Zealand too got off to a shaky start losing opener Jeet Raval in the ninth over with just eight runs on board. Tom Latham and Kane Williamson then added the 84-run stand for the second wicket as New Zealand went past England’s 58.

England’s Lowest Totals in Tests

Total Against Venue Year
45 AUS Sydney 1886/87
46 WI Port of Spain 1993/94
51 WI Kingston 2008/09
52 AUS Oval 1948
53 AUS Lord's 1888
58 NZ Auckland 2017/18

Lowest Team Totals in Tests

Team Total Against Venue Year
New Zealand 26 ENG Auckland 1955
South Africa 30 ENG Port Elizabeth 1896
South Africa 30 ENG Birmingham 1924
South Africa 35 ENG Cape Town 1899
South Africa 36 AUS Melbourne 1932
Australia 36 ENG Birmingham 1902
New Zealand 42 AUS Wellington 1946
Australia 42 ENG Sydney 1888
India 42 ENG Lord's 1974
South Africa 43 ENG Cape Town 1889
Australia 44 ENG The Oval 1896

England did manage to pick two more wickets after the dinner break, but Williamson kept going. The two wickets to fell were Latham (26) and Ross Taylor (20). The New Zealand captain, who finished the day unbeaten on 91, shared another half-century stand with Henry Nicholls (24).

For England, James Anderson picked two wickets while Stuart Broad chipped in with a wicket. Interestingly, this is the first ever day-night Test match happening in New Zealand and the home team has got off to an impressive start.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 22, 2018 04:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).