Basin Reserve in Wellington delivered to us one of the most thrilling match in the history of Test cricket as home team New Zealand pulled-off a stunning 1 run victory over the recently dominant team in Test cricket, England.
The 2nd Test match of the 2 match series was played at the Basin Reserve with the visiting team leading the series going into the match having won the 1st match Mount Maunganui.
New Zealand needed a victory to draw the series. It was New Zealand captain Tom Southee who won the toss and opted to bowl first. England scored 435 runs in the 1st inning thanks to centuries from Joe Root (153 runs) and Harry Brook (186 runs).
The Kiwis were bundled out for 209 runs in their 1st inning, leading to England enforcing a follow-on. In the 2nd inning, with a crucial century from Kane Williamson (132 runs) and big contributions from Tom Latham (83 runs) and Tom Blundell (90 runs), New Zealand put on 483 runs on the board, setting a target of 258 runs for the English side.
New Zealand bowlers struck 5 wickets early for just 80 runs. But then, Joe Root played a brilliant inning as he scored 95 runs with support from captain Ben Stokes.
But once the duo were gone, England were down to 8 wickets for 215 runs, requiring still some good chunk of runs. Ben Foakes was a big hope for the England side, but the batter also departed after scoring 35 runs. It was all on James Anderson and Jack Leach to take the team over the line.
Despite valiant effort, Neil Wagner took the final wicket of James Anderson when England still needing 2 runs to win, leading to New Zealand record a historic 1 run victory over the Three Lions. Checkout how Twitterati reacted to the same.