Auckland: England coach Trevor Bayliss admitted he was “embarrassed” on Thursday after a collapse to 58 all out against New Zealand which left him struggling for answers.
“It was a very poor effort today, it just simply wasn’t good enough,” Bayliss said, at the end of one of the worst days in England Test history.
It was their sixth lowest Test score and only an heroic 33 not out by No. 9 batsman Craig Overton ensured they passed the world record lowest innings of 26 set by New Zealand in 1955.
At stumps the Black Caps, seemingly untroubled by the conditions in the first day-night Test in New Zealand, were firmly in command at 175 for three, a lead of 117 runs with seven wickets in hand.
“We’ve got the best team from England we can pick here,” Bayliss said, admitting he was “hurt” by the performance.
“We’ve got to sit down and have a good chat about it. Is it a mental approach? Is it something in our preparation? Are we good enough at working out how to actually play when we do lose one or two early wickets?” the coach added.
“Embarrassed? Certainly, and I probably wasn’t the only one in our change room. It’s certainly not good enough.”
“We made the call a couple of hours prior,” coach Mike Hesson says about the toss. “We hoped it would do a bit more, but it did nothing.
“Once Trent and Tim found their length, they were exceptional. A dream day would be batting out a couple of sessions, getting a big lead. But you don’t win Test matches on the first day”
New Zealand only needed two bowlers, Trent Boult — who finished with a career best six for 32 — and Tim Southee, who took four for 25, in an innings that lasted just 20.4 overs.
But Bayliss said that while New Zealand performed well with the ball, he believed the problem lay with the England batsmen.
“I thought the New Zealand bowlers bowled extremely well and we batted equally as badly,” he said.
“I thought we made a lot of mistakes with our footwork. The ball was swinging a little bit but when the ball’s pitched up it’s as simple as it gets and a lot of our guys were out today playing from behind the crease to fairly full balls.”
Apart from Overton, opener Mark Stoneman’s 11 was the only other England score in double figures, while captain Joe Root led a parade of five players out for a duck.
New Zealand’s batting was far more solid with Kane Williamson not out 91 at stumps while Tom Latham, Ross Taylor and Henry Nicholls all made it into the twenties.
Apart from Stuart Broad taking his 400th Test wicket it was a bleak day for the tourists, who registered their sixth lowest total in Tests.
But for New Zealand, Williamson commanded the Test from the moment he won the toss and opted to bowl.
He featured in the field with a superb diving catch in the gully to remove Broad, and ended the day closing in on a new record for New Zealand Test centuries.
He currently shares the record of 17 centuries with Ross Taylor and the late Martin Crowe.
Williamson went to the middle after the early dismissal of Jeet Raval, when New Zealand were one for eight, and put on 84 with Tom Latham for the second wicket.
Latham had made a patient 26 off 112 deliveries but when play entered the difficult daylight-to-twilight zone he was gone in the first over after dinner to give Broad his milestone scalp.
England’s lowest Test totals
45 v Australia, Sydney, 1887
46 v West Indies, Port of Spain, 1994
51 v West Indies, Kingston, 2009
52 v Australia, London, 1948
53 v Australia, London, 1888
58 v New Zealand, Auckland, 2018
Scorecard
England 1st innings
A Cook c Tom Latham b Trent Boult 5
MStoneman c BJ Watling b Tim Southee 11
J Root b Trent Boult 0
D Malan c BJ Watling b Trent Boult 2
B Stokes b Trent Boult 0
J Bairstow c & b Tim Southee 0
M Ali b Tim Southee 0
C Woakes b Trent Boult 5
C Overton Not Out 33
St Broad c Kane Williamson b Tim Southee 0
J Anderson c Henry Nicholls b Trent Boult 1
Extras 1lb 1
Total (20.4 overs) 58 all out
Fall of Wickets: 1-6, 2-6, 3-16, 4-18, 5-18 Stokes, 6-18, 7-23, 8-23, 9-27, 10-58
Bowling: Boult 10.4-3-32-6, Southee 10-3-25-4
New Zealand 1st innings
J Raval c Jonny Bairstow b James Anderson 3
T Latham c Chris Woakes b Stuart Broad 26
K Williamson Not Out 91
R Taylor c Chris Woakes b James Anderson 20
H Nicholls Not Out 24
Extras 6lb 5w 11
Total (69.0 overs) 175-3
Fall of Wickets: 1-8, 2-92, 3-123
Bowling: Anderson 13-4-32-2, Broad 15-4-24-1, Overton 15-4-43-0, Woakes 15-5-36-0
