The Wellington Test between New Zealand and England proved to be a thriller. Chasing a target of 258, England fell short by the narrowest of margins and lost by 1 run. Yes, after 30 years, and for the 2nd time ever, a side won a Test by just 1 run. The last time it happened was when West Indies achieved it in 1993 vs Australia.
At one point it did not even appear that New Zealand would save the game, let alone win it. England posted 435/8 and bundled them out for 209. Being asked to follow on, New Zealand fought back with 483.
AFP
New Zealand joined the list of teams to win a Test after being asked to follow-on. The most famous one was of course India’s epic win vs Australia in 2001 when they came back from a 274-run deficit to win by 171 runs.
AFP
Needless to say, this thriller was a remarkable advertisement for Test cricket. And of course, Twitter went bonkers as fans tried to digest what had happened. If anyone wanted proof that Test cricket was very much alive, this was it.
Take a look at how Twitter reacted:
Test cricket at its highest peak…. Oh what a match 👏👏
— Prabhath Varma (@puvarma) February 28, 2023
Wow what a match. It seems that this game always show the place to whoever feel overconfident. This time it was England.
— Anil Kumar Sindhu (@Dr_Anilsindhu) February 28, 2023
Losing a Test match after enforcing the follow on in this century:
2001 Kolkata – India defeated Australia.
2023 Wellington – New Zealand defeated England
What a Match this was #ENGvsNZ #HarryBrook #KaneWilliamson
— Harshwardhan Singh 🇮🇳 (@Harshwardhan__8) February 28, 2023
WHAT A MATCH……..😶🌫️ https://t.co/zw4wYiVs3N
— Gautam Begani (@GautamBegani1) February 28, 2023
Today’s test reminds me of 2001 Kolkata test where Rahul Dravid and vvs laxman were show stopper and India won after following on..! #NZvENG
— Ankit (@i_m_born2fly) February 28, 2023
Ok, bazball #NZvENG 👍
— Abhijai Singh (@Abhijaiiii) February 28, 2023
Well played NZ. Not easy to fight back that well and pull it back from the brink. Wish we’d won, but great moment for the Blackcaps. All in all a phenomenal match #NZvENG
— Myles Houlbrook-Walk (@MylesWalk) February 28, 2023
Unaku nanga apdi solrathu la thaan prachana naa.. Solluven daa, style’aah, geth’aah.. “What a match, test cricket you beauty” 🔥 https://t.co/Ju0Bl6P442 pic.twitter.com/CgHxqd0gWS
— ɐslɐɯ (@pitchinginline) February 28, 2023
Absolutely love the fact that it was a dirty long hop down the leg that finished that ridiculous game of test cricket .. had it been a Jaffa to get a number 11 who has publically disapproved of batting, it wouldn’t have been this ‘got hit in the balls’ kind of funny🤌💕 #NZvENG
— Gaurav Nandan Tripathi 🜃 (@Cric_Beyond_Ent) February 28, 2023
New Zealand have drawn the series after losing the previous game by 267 runs. It was a game to remember which, more the most part, England dominated. But the Kiwis came back to pull one from out of nowhere.
Such games are what Test cricket is all about. With a history of nearly one fifty years, cricket’s longest format is here to stay.
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