England deliver the excitement against the Black Caps in first test at Bay Oval

ANALYSIS: A constant state of excitement intermingled with an air of inevitability is a rare thing.

But it’s what England and the Black Caps threw up amid sunshine and a surrounding storm on the first day of the first test on Thursday.

Most of the excitement came courtesy of the tourists, who gambolled their merry way through the supposedly treacherous fields of test cricket in reaching 325-9 declared in Mount Maunganui.

‘Go Stokes, go for broke’ as they might say in the cricket internet meme world.

READ MORE:
* Neil Wagner reaches landmark as Black Caps battle against England in 1st test
* England’s Joe Root falls in extraordinary manner in first test v Black Caps
* Blair Tickner to make Black Caps test debut against England at Bay Oval
* Recap: Black Caps vs England – first test at Bay Oval

At stumps, the inevitability had come from the hosts as they crumbled to 37-3 in 18 overs amid the perils of facing the pink ball under lights.

No minefield greeted captain Ben Stokes and his band of men during daylight hours, despite the Bay Oval wicket spending three unwanted days undercover in the lead-up to the series opener.

Ben Duckett made 84 from 68 balls, Harry Brook 89 from 82 and Ollie Pope a snail-like 42 from 65 as the visitors scored at 5.57 runs per over.

Stokes decided not to send tail-ender James Anderson to the crease under lights and ended his side’s innings after just 58.2 overs.

Only once in test history has a team declared earlier in the match – in 1974, Pakistan declared when nine down for 130 after only 44.5 overs versus England at Lord’s.

That came despite Pakistan’s openers putting on 71 for the first wicket before rain arrived, the pitch remained uncovered – as was the style at the time – and when the tourists returned under clearer skies, spinner Derek Underwood (5-20) was near unplayable.

The Stokes/Brendon McCullum captain/coach connection has resurrected careers and turned Joe Root into Kevin Pietersen 2.0.

If that wasn’t to enrapture the Barmy Army, along comes a generational talent in Harry Brook.

What an environment for a gifted stroke maker to be taken into the bosom of. He exhibited some exquisite shots on Thursday and the 23-year-old was close to becoming only the second England batsman to score hundreds in four consecutive tests – after Ken Barrington in the 1960s – and already has 569 runs from only seven innings.

Every test for England now, a batter threatens to break Gilbert Jessop’s record for the fastest test century for their country, set in 1902 off 76 balls when Enrico Caruso became the first million-selling singer and Edward VII was crowned King of England.

The home team’s bowlers were expected to struggle without three top-flight performers.

Containment flew out the window, without Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry for various reasons.

Taking wickets wasn’t such an issue for a line-up featuring two debutants as wicket-preservation is remarkably low amongst England’s priorities.

Stokes quipped on Wednesday about his desire to lose the toss, unsure what the pitch would do, and he would have been delighted with how things panned out when Tim Southee was given the choice.

Before the first ball had been delivered by the NZ skipper, there was a sense that for the hosts to grab their first test in seven outings, everything had to go right.

Within the first two overs, things had gone agonisingly wrong – Southee had a tough catching chance put down and Neil Wagner knocked Zak Crawley’s poles over with his first ball but had overstepped his mark.

Southee got Crawley in the third over and it looked like the pink ball and England’s urgency would lead to major inroads for the hosts. But the movement through the air and off the pitch rapidly evaporated.

Newcomer Blair Tickner struggled to impose himself, taking 1-72 from 13 overs.

Scott Kuggeleijn, who was brought into the squad along with Jacob Duffy at a late hour with Doug Bracewell and Ben Lister not considered due to ailments, was the second debutant. He struck Ollie Pope on the helmet with his first ball and ended with 2-80 from 13.

New Zealand didn’t bowl their first maiden over until just before tea and it quickly looked like a situation that would have been best suited to now-retired-from-tests medium-pacer Colin de Grandhomme to try and slow the visitors’ progress.

But grind has been crossed out of England’s test dictionary and so Wagner picked up some quick late scalps to go past the 250 test wickets mark.

England’s batting tactics haven’t always worked – since Stokes and McCullum put their heads together, they’ve been dismissed for 165 or less three times in 11 first innings, allowing for far trickier batting conditions on two of those occasions than they encountered on Thursday.

The harshest critics of England’s approach could argue that they threw away more than a couple of wickets and the more traditional method of batting on day one of a test could have set the visitors up to bat well into day two, reach 450-plus and effectively eliminate any chance of New Zealand winning.

But as McCullum would say – where’s the fun in that?