Delhi: On the first day of the second test, England’s star batsman Harry Brook scored a brilliant century against New Zealand to support the team. In this match being played at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, England had a very poor start and the team was in trouble at the score of 43/4, but Brook’s aggressive innings took England to a respectable score of 259/7 at tea. This is his second consecutive century. Earlier, he had scored 171 runs in the first match of the series.
After a poor start for England, Harry Brook and Ollie Pope provided stability to the team by handling the innings. Both of them made a partnership of 174 runs for the fifth wicket, which changed the course of the game. The special thing is that in the first match of the series, in a similar situation, this pair had pulled the team out of trouble by making a partnership of 151 runs. Pope played an important inning of 66 runs in this match.
Brook’s dismissal proved to be the turning point of the match. He was run out on a direct throw from Nathan Smith. With his dismissal, New Zealand got a big breakthrough. However, England ended the day on a positive note, with Chris Woakes unbeaten on 15*. The team will now try to increase its score of 259/7 on the second day.
Brook’s innings of 123 runs included 11 fours and 5 sixes. According to ESPNcricinfo, Brook has so far scored seven of his eight Test centuries abroad. He has scored runs at an average of 91.50 in 10 matches on foreign soil. His average in New Zealand is 103.83, which is lower than only Wally Hammond (321.00) among batsmen who have scored 600+ runs.
Apart from this, he has scored 2,225 runs in 23 Test matches at an average of 61.80. He has 8 centuries and 9 half-centuries recorded in his name. Brook’s average against New Zealand is 103.83, where he has scored 623 runs. This includes 5 scores above fifty and 3 centuries in 6 innings.
With this century, Brook has joined the list of guest batsmen who have scored the most Test centuries in New Zealand. He has scored 3 centuries and has joined veterans like Graham Thorpe and Alec Stewart in this list.
Apart from this, Brook has become the fourth batsman to complete 1,000 Test runs in 2024. Before him, Joe Root, Ben Duckett and India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal have achieved this feat. Brook has scored 1,044 runs in just 11 tests, with an average of 61.41.