England vs New Zealand

 England strike under the lights after Harry Brook, Ben Duckett cut loose

Which feature of this most recent installment most appeals to you? The concept that any or both of Ben Duckett and Harry Brook might have been able to break Gilbert Jessop's 121-year-old 76-ball record for the fastest England hundred, and perhaps at least one of them should have? What about Joe Root, England's outstanding Test batsman of the contemporary era, being caught at slip while attempting a ramp shot on the opening day of a Test?

How about Ben Stokes' most recent captaincy crowning achievement, a first-innings declaration after just 58.2 overs that is the second-fastest in Test history? By that point, England had cruised to an usually carefree 325 for 9, at a rate of 5.77 an over, with perhaps only Ollie Pope falling victim to anything that would typically be characterized as traditional bowling "pressure." Despite the eternal class of Tim Southee and the unflappable Neil Wagner, an attack involving two nervous debutants carries little fears when your minds are as open as boys on a golfing vacation.

Although England's innings wasn't quite as spectacular as their previous first day of a series—their 506 for 4 in Rawalpindi in December—its conclusion was nevertheless noteworthy in and of itself. Given England's high-stakes Test lifestyle, it's difficult to even categorize their declaration as a "gamble," but it was a characteristically planned Stokes move. By the time New Zealand tottered to 37 for 3 in 18 overs before the game's end, it had paid rich and tempting dividends. They had been left facing a 90-minute assessment beneath Mount Maunganui's full-beam floodlights.

Ollie Robinson, who was already seen by his teammates as being on par with James Anderson and Stuart Broad in terms of seniority, didn't take long to live up to his elevated reputation. The ageless Anderson switched ends after being introduced for the fifth over and promptly struck with his third ball as Tom Latham fenced carelessly to short leg. He then removed two of New Zealand's batting mainstays with the customarily meager statistics of 2 for 11 in seven overs.

Although Zak Crawley's poor drop at second slip cost Anderson the early wicket of Devon Conway, Crawley quickly made up for it by making a harder catch to dismiss Henry Nicholls by the time Anderson had already taken the biggest fish, Kane Williamson for six via a successfully reviewed lbw. Those two victories, incidentally, increased Broad and Anderson's combined victory total to 999 and counting. On Friday, you might expect them to eventually break McGrath and Warne's record of 1001 victories.

However, this was yet another spectacular day for Stokes' England squad. Floodlit cricket is a sufficiently novel idea to round off many of the edges of Test cricket's customs. Both captains were instructed to bat first after losing a toss that neither one really wanted to win because the pitch had been thrashed by Cyclone Gabrielle the week prior. Even this starting lineup may have had some doubts in such a situation, especially when Crawley ran out of lives in the third over after escaping clear chances in each of the previous two.

But instead, the jeopardy just spurred England to "run into the danger", as their team credo would have it. And not even the post-tea streaker who briefly troubled the stewards could have run with more alacrity than Duckett and Brook - two of the outstanding performers in England's 3-0 series win in Pakistan before Christmas, whose confidence in both their own form and the team cause was plain for all to see.

Duckett's first significant action in the game was to add salt to New Zealand's gaping wounds, particularly those of Wagner, who initially believed he had bowled Crawley with a flawless first-ball inswinger before being called off for a front-foot no-ball.

Wagner, who was unfamiliar with the new-ball honors considering New Zealand's historical riches in that area, experienced a morale-crushing moment as a result. Wagner's best work would have to wait until the end of the innings, when he reverted to that familiar pitch-battering line with the dog-eared old ball and scalped four late wickets. However, with Trent Boult overlooked and Matt Henry on paternity leave, Wagner's response was a hot-headed search for a magic ball of atonement.

As a substitute, Southee used Blair Tickner, the first of his two debutants, whose first pitch was shaky and nervous, particularly his third over, which Duckett pounded for four fours in five balls. Jessop-watch was in full swing until he rose through too many drives and picked out Michael Bracewell in the covers, giving Tickner his first wicket. His rapid hands and belligerent spirit powered him to a 36-ball half-century, the fastest by an England opener.

Brook won the second game, but not before England gave New Zealand a brief moment of relief. They dropped from a solid starting point of 152 for 2 in the hour after tea to a mid-session low of 209 for 5 when Stokes mishandled an overzealous pull straight at short midwicket, giving Scott Kuggeleijn of New Zealand, who was making his second debut, a significant first wicket.

By this point, Root, the other legendary player in England's ranks, had finished his devil-may-care 14 from 22-ball innings, which included one successful reverse-ramp for four over deep third off Neil Wagner and one less successful, as Wagner smacked the ball out a little bit wider of off stump, allowing Daryl Mitchell to stop the under-edged chance with a quick catch.

When Pope, who was quietly in control of his own tempo and on 42 from 65 balls, appeared to be frightened by the prospect of eight dot-balls in ten deliveries from the unrelenting Southee, and steered his next to slip, it seemed as though England were in danger of overreaching themselves with this bold new attitude.

However, despite their propensity for using the sword to end their lives, the English are equally motivated to use it to live their finest lives occasionally. Nobody is currently living a happier life than Brook, who was on pace to score his fourth Test century in as many matches before Wagner persuaded him to drop another filthy bomb onto his own stumps.

The same feat was accomplished by George Headley, Sunil Gavaskar, and Vinod Kambli in eight innings, hence Brook would have become known as the most prodigious newcomer in Test history had he accomplished it in just his seventh. He currently has some of the most astounding stats of all time, including 569 runs at 81.28, an astounding strike rate of 94.51, 14 fours, the majority of which were hammered past point, and a soaring six off Southee that brought to mind none other than Kevin Pietersen in his prime. With just one week until his 24th birthday, Brook is both the present and, increasingly, the future of England's batting.