Frustration for England as second Test ends in a draw

Agencies/Wellington

The clash at the Basin Reserve ended with New Zealand at 162 for two in their second innings, still 49 runs in arrears after the tourists set an imposing first innings total of 465 and enforced the follow-on. Not a ball was bowled yesterday in a finish England captain Alastair Cook admitted was frustrating after his team dominated but ran out of time pressing for victory.

With the series still evenly poised, Cook said there were some positives to take into the third and final Test in Auckland beginning on Friday, pointing to a much-improved display after the first Test in Dunedin.

England’s batting was far better than in Dunedin, with centuries to Jonathan Trott and Nick Compton, while Matt Prior made 82, and Kevin Pietersen (73) was also among the runs after two failures in the first Test.

Stuart Broad also returned to his potent best, taking six for 51 in New Zealand’s first innings. Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum admitted his side were outplayed but said the result evened out the ledger after the drawn Dunedin Test, where New Zealand were on top but rain delays let England off the hook.

“It was a draw at the end of the day and if it’s viewed as a points decision I guess England will take this one,” he said.

“They dictated this one and we held on and showed some fighting qualities.” McCullum had actually won the toss on the first day and asked England to bat in the hope that the wicket would provide his seam attack with some assistance before it flattened out. The visitors, however, batted New Zealand out of the match on day one with Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott scoring centuries, and McCullum said he felt that his side had not performed as well as they should have.

“I thought we were pretty average on day one. There was a little bit in the wicket that we could have got some more benefit from,” he said.

“We probably didn’t bowl as well as what we needed to for as long as what we needed to against some quality batsmen. “Our execution was off. We didn’t put enough pressure on England long enough and when up against a fine batting lineup got to be able to exert pressure for a long time.

“From that point on, we were under pressure (but) we managed to stand up and sustain some pressure that was exerted on us by England, which is a really good sign for this team.”

BENIGN PITCHES?

England bowling coach David Saker had criticised the nature of the pitches produced in both Dunedin and at the Basin Reserve, which he felt allowed the batsmen to dictate the flow of the game, though McCullum said the weather had been more of a defining feature in terms of results.

More than 100 overs were lost due to rain in Dunedin, while more than 150 were lost in Wellington and McCullum said if play had been able to go for the full five days in each match criticism of the pitches would not have been made.

“It seems to be bowling coaches who have an issue with them. It’s always going to be the way,” he said with a grin. “If we look at the first Test match, we lost a whole day to rain. There would have been a certain result in that game - well, that’s what I think - and then if you look at this Test as well, we lost a day and a half to rain.

“It would have been interestingly poised and there probably would have been a result in this (game). It’s not three or four-day test match wickets, they’re five-day grinding wickets which you have to work incredibly hard (on) for your fruits.

“I don’t see anything wrong with them. They’ve been pretty good and they’ve certainly allowed both teams to have periods of dominance throughout the Test series so far.”

“Both teams go to Auckland and we’ll just try to make a result in the last game.”

The weather is forecast to clear for the Auckland Test and the wicket is expected to provide more bounce than the docile pitches in Wellington and Dunedin, boosting the chances of a series-deciding result.