England complete crushing victory over sorry Black Caps at Bay Oval

After day four, at Bay Oval: England 325-9 and 374 (Joe Root 57, Harry Brook 54, Ben Foakes 51, Ollie Pope 49, Ollie Robinson 39; Blair Tickner 3-55, Michael Bracewell 3-68) beat New Zealand 306 and 126 in 45.3 overs (Daryl Mitchell 57 not out; Jimmy Anderson 4-18, Stuart Broad 4-41) by 267 runs.

Thumped, hammered, destroyed. Call it what you will.

England romped to a crushing 267-run win against the sorry Black Caps at Bay Oval on Sunday, taking an unassailable 1-0 lead in the two-match test series.

The tourists needed just 22.3 overs to bag the five remaining wickets on day four, putting the hosts out of their misery inside two hours under the blazing sun.

Indeed, there was no excuse of batting under the lights for the Black Caps’ final act of a mostly forgettable test from their point of view.

Resuming on 63-5 after 23 overs, a whopping 331 runs shy of victory, Michael Bracewell’s dismissal – for the second time in the match he meekly chipped a ball to a fielder on the onside – got the ball rolling.

Jimmy Anderson promptly trapped Scott Kuggeleijn lbw, nicked out Tim Southee (golden duck) and Neil Wagner, before cleaning up No 11 Blair Tickner after he held off England for almost an hour.

To be fair, this was game over from the moment Stuart Broad went pole hunting on Saturday night, tearing the guts out of New Zealand’s batting lineup with a masterclass of fast bowling under the lights.

Kudos must go to ultra-aggressive England, who pushed the pace of the game throughout, ensuring it was they who had the pink ball in hand under the night sky on two of the first three nights, when life was considerably tougher on those with willow in hand.

New Zealand simply didn’t get enough out of their top-order, including former captain Kane Williamson (six runs in two innings). Tom Latham (16) and the increasingly under pressure Henry Nicholls (11) didn’t fare much better.

But the bowlers aren’t blameless. As former Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming said before play on day four, they “fed the beast” that is England through erratic bowling and an inability to build pressure, starting on day one.

Clearly, they missed the unavailable Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry, bowling just six maidens in the test, including one in the first innings after Tim Southee won the toss and asked the visitors to bat on a surface which had spent days under covers due to rotten weather.

Tom Blundell’s first innings ton was a bright spot, a superb 138 from 181 balls, which dragged New Zealand to within 19 runs of England’s 325.

But the match soon swung back England’s way, helped by a bevy of loose deliveries on the second evening of the test, and rammed home by free-flowing contributions by almost the entire touring side’s lineup.

That left the Black Caps needing to set their new test record (394) for biggest successful fourth-innings run chase, a daunting task which proved well beyond reach for a team that’s now gone seven tests without a win.

The big moment

Jimmy Anderson finally got one past the defence of gutsy No 11 Blair Tickner after he toughed it out for 52 minutes, icing a 10th test win in England’s last 11 outings.

Best with the bat

Out without troubling the scorers in the first innings, Daryl Mitchell (57*) dug in and scored his sixth test half century and ensured New Zealand weren’t bowled out for under 100 on home soil for the first time since 2009 (against Pakistan in Wellington).

Best with the ball

It was Broad who started it on Saturday night, but Anderson finished the job, snaring four of the final five wickets and finishing with 4-18.

The big picture

Flush it. That’s surely what the Black Caps will do after being thoroughly outclassed. That said, they’d best arrive in Wellington for the second test, starting Friday at the Basin Reserve, with some fresh ideas to counter the English.