For the first 30 minutes of the second test, this series felt different.
The resurgent Black Caps were moving the ball about on a green pitch, the returning Matt Henry was bowling an impeccable line, and the previously rampant England had seen their topthree sent back to the pavilion.
Then Harry Brook walked to the middle, and the test reverted to blistering type.
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England today reclaimed their commanding position in the two-test series against New Zealand, taking a slightly circuitous route but, by the middle session of the first day at the Basin Reserve, arriving at the same destination.
A day that began with a half-hour of positivity for the hosts ended with Brook and Joe Root striding from the field having unleashed a five-hour batting blitz.
By stumps, England’s supremacy was unquestioned. With the total on 315-3 when rain curtailed play, Brook (184no from 169 balls) and Root (101no) putting on 294 runs to form England’s second-highest stand against New Zealand, the Black Caps are being blasted out of the series.
The opening day was much more equitable last week at Bay Oval, where the home side at least took nine wickets before losing three of their own.
That day’s play still set the platform for England’s first test triumph in this country since 2008. Unless the weather intervenes in Wellington, it’s unlikely they will wait long for another.
It’s unlikely Brendon McCullum’s side will lose many matches at all when Brook is in this type of touch.
Two days after turning 24, the No 5 entered the battle when there was one to be won. At 21-3 in the seventh over, Henry and Tim Southee bowling like they shared curation duties on the Basin Reserve pitch, England were for the first time this tour in trouble.
Fifty-eight overs later, the only danger belonged to the fans in the first few rows, Brook bludgeoning five sixes to mark another masterful knock in a young career already blessed by a few.
The Yorkshireman batted with ferocity and forethought, using his feet to stay a step ahead of the bowlers and punish the bad ball - along with plenty of decent ones.
He batted even with a bit of restraint, initially at least. It was almost a necessity given the way Henry in particular started the match.
For the 14th straight test in Wellington, the toss-winning captain opted to bowl, as Southee opted for an extra batsman despite the greentop that greeted him.
It was hard to blame the Black Caps for including Will Young alongside Henry, omitting Blair Tickner and Scott Kuggeleijn. The first test was lost with the bats; now they look a bowler short.
That appearance took hold in the 10th over, when Daryl Mitchell’s part-timers were entrusted to keep England at the hosts’ mercy. They did not - he and Neil Wagner ended the day combining for 0-162 at a run rate of 6.2.
Henry faded but was at first menacing. After missing the opening test for the arrival of his daughter, the 31-year-old seemed more than ready to swap newborn for the new ball.
In his first over, Henry’s line was probing, getting movement off the seam and beating the bat. He deserved a wicket with a peach of a ball to Ben Duckett, but the Black Caps’ unsuccessful review revealed no nick.
In his second over, Henry did find a faint edge from Zak Crawley, and in his third, another unplayable delivery was angling straight for the top of off before Ollie Pope’s intervention sent it to Bracewell at second slip.
It was a sharp catch but better followed five balls later. Duckett blazed an attempted drive of Southee that flew through the corden…until Bracewell emerged almost horizontal to somehow snag the chance with the fingers on his left hand, surviving a bobble as his forearm hit the ground.
Happier times for Michael Bracewell, Henry Nicholls and New Zealand. Photo / photosport.nz
That was Southee’s 700th international wicket, second only to Dan Vettori’s 705. That, unfortunately for his team, was also as good as it got.
Brook enjoyed one piece of early fortune, as his edge did manage to find a gap in the slips, but that was an aberration. He surpassed 50 for the seventh time in nine innings before England went to lunch on 101-3, a run rate of 3.88 compared to 5.83 in the first session at Bay Oval.
The middle session was more of McCullum’s oeuvre. Brook sparked the acceleration by cracking back-to-back sixes down the ground off Mitchell, soon cutting to the fence from Bracewell to reach his ton from 107 balls.
He took his strike rate past 100 by giving himself room and crushing Wagner over long on, taking England to tea on 237-3. His partnership with Root reached 250 - to which the former skipped contributed 77 - before reaching record proportions.
The highest fourth-wicket stand for England against New Zealand; then the highest for any opposition fourth wicket at the Basin Reserve.
As the rain came down and the covers were readied, Root registered a 29th test century, but the day belonged to one man.
