WELLINGTON: New Zealand pulled off a remarkable one-run win over England on Tuesday as lionhearted paceman Neil Wag­ner’s heroics saw the hosts become just the fourth side in 146 years of Test cricket to claim victory after being asked to follow on.

Wagner took four wickets and two crucial catches at the Basin Reserve, where the hosts recorded only the second one-run victory in Test cricket following West Indies’ famous 1993 win in Adelaide.

New Zealand had Wagner to thank for one of the most dramatic outcomes seen in the game as he came back from a trouncing by England’s batsmen to take the last wicket of James Anderson at the end of a manic day five to seal a memorable, nail-biting triumph.

The home side had fought back to set an attacking England a target of 258 runs to win, but the visitors were all out for 256 as a gripping two-Test series finished 1-1.

“It’s a special one this and we’ll celebrate it well,” said left-arm pace bowler Wagner, who finished with 4-62 including the key wickets of Ben Stokes and Joe Root.

“It’s an amazing achievement and obviously everybody contributed, so hats off to everyone. That’s what this team’s about, just keep playing. We keep loving to fight for each other.”

The hosts preserved their unbeaten record at home dating back to 2017 and also handed England only their second defeat in 12 Tests since Stokes and head coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum unleashed the team’s attacking ‘Bazball’ revolution last year.

Over the home summer, England chased down fourth-innings targets abo­ve 250 in three successive Tests to whitewash New Zealand. They will wo­n­der how this one got away from them.

“That game as a whole, in terms of what Test cricket’s about, was just incredible,” said Stokes. “Everyone’s got their money’s worth today. What a game. After I got out, I went to watch and what unfolded was massively up and down. It was crazy.

“Wags [Wagner] came on and blew the game open for them. Sometimes things don’t happen the way you want them to but it was a good one, wasn’t it?”

Stokes said he had no regrets about making the Black Caps bat again. “Other teams are allowed to play better than us and New Zealand have played better than us this week.”

Stokes, who will now turn his focus towards the Ashes and Australia this summer, said it had still been a successful winter, having won 3-0 in Pakistan.

“Disappointing to end on a loss, but four [wins] out of five away from home is something we will take great pride in,” he said. “A few months off and get back to what we love doing. “

It was the first time New Zealand have won after being forced to follow on. England had managed it twice, against Austr­alia in 1894 and 1981, while India beat Australia in 2001.

Captain Tim Southee praised the visitors’ contribution to a pulsating Test match that will live long in the memory.

“What England have done for Test cricket over the last year or so has been amazing,” said Southee, after New Zealand halted England’s run of six straight wins.

“I don’t know why there always seems to be such close encounters between us, but these games bring out the best in both sides. We just never gave up, it was about hanging in there and trusting we would do it.

“Only a handful of sides have been asked to follow on and come back to win so I think it’s a pretty special one. I guess to be on the back foot after two days and the character being shown in the last three days ... has been very impressive.”

England won the first Test by a resounding 267 runs and were on course for another victory after declaring their first innings on 435-8, then bowling out New Zealand for 209.

But former skipper Kane William­son dragged New Zeal­and back into the Test with a superb 132 in their second-innings 483, leaving England 258 to win.

Having resumed at 48-1, England wobbled on Tuesday morning by losing four wickets for just 27 runs to be 80 for five, with Root running out a scoreless Harry Brook in a moment of madness.

But the former skipper shrug­ged off the mistake by steering his team to 168-5 at lunch and threatened another century after his unbeaten 153 in the first innings.

As England chipped away at their target, New Zealand’s hopes had faded after lunch as Root and Stokes cut the deficit to 57 runs.

Enter Wagner, who had bled more than eight runs an over in the third innings in the series-opener at Mount Maunganui.

Root’s vital partnership with Stokes (33) ended on 121 when England’s captain threw the bat at a Wagner bouncer and top-edged to square leg where Tom Latham took the catch.

An unlikely aggressor through his 113-ball knock, Root (95) also paid for attacking Wagner, sending a miscued pull to Michael Bracewell at midwicket.

Wagner then nervelessly held catches in the deep to help remove Stuart Broad (11) and wicketkeeper Ben Foakes for 35.

Foakes’ wicket left tailenders Jack Leach and Anderson needing seven runs for victory, and Ande­rson smacked a boundary off Wag­ner to trim the target to two runs.

The unfazed Wagner came again and had Anderson caught down the leg side for four to trigger jubilation among his team mates and the home fans in the crowd.

SCOREBOARD

ENGLAND (1st Innings) 435-8 decl (H. Brook 186, J. Root 153; M. Henry 4-100)

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 209 (T. Southee 73, T. Blundell 38; S. Broad 4-61, J. Anderson 3-37)

NEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings) 483 follow on (K. Williamson 132, T. Blundell 90; J. Leach 5-157)

ENGLAND (2nd Innings, overnight 48-1):

Z. Crawley b Southee 24

B. Duckett c Blundell b Henry 33

O. Robinson c Bracewell b Southee 2

O. Pope c Latham b Wagner 14

J. Root c Bracewell b Wagner 95

H. Brook run out 0

B. Stokes c Latham b Wagner 33

B. Foakes c Wagner b Southee 35

S. Broad c Wagner b Henry 11

J. Leach not out 1

J. Anderson c Blundell b Wagner 4

EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-1, W-2) 4

TOTAL (all out, 74.2 overs) 256

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-39 (Crawley), 2-53 (Robinson), 3-59 (Duckett), 4-80 (Pope), 5-80 (Brook), 6-201 (Stokes), 7-202 (Root), 8-215 (Broad), 9-251 (Foakes)

BOWLING: Southee 20.1-5-45-3 (1w), Henry 21.5-3-75-2, Bracewell 17-2-73-0 (1nb), Neil Wagner 15.2-0-62-4 (1w)

RESULT: New Zealand won by one run.

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Kane Williamson

PLAYER-OF-THE-SERIES: Harry Brook

SERIES: Two-match series drawn 1-1.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2023