Will the real New Zealand stand up please

New Zealand was soundly thrashed by South Africa earlier this year. It was real ‘men’ against ‘boys’ stuff and I think most people expected more of the same against England in the first test match.  We didn’t see any of that. New Zealand dominated the first two innings. A very batsmen friendly pitch meant that England could get out of their hole and save the test match. England made 421-6 but New Zealand tried really hard to force a result. Trent Boult was still running in and bowling at 140km/h after 30 overs! Neil Wagner bowled one spell of ten overs without reducing his pace. They bowled a good line too. Very encouraging. Let us hope they can produce more of the same …