For New Zealand the end at least came quickly. England needed less than a session on the fourth day Sunday to complete a 267-run win in the first day-night cricket test and to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. Stuart Broad who clean bowled four New Zealand top-order batters late on the third day to leave the home side 63-5 overnight and make the win imminent, finished with 4-49. His long-time and record-breaking partner James Anderson took 4-18, sealing the win when he bowled No. 11 Blair Tickner (8) about 15 minutes before tea as New Zealand was all out for 127. That raised Anderson and Broad’s tally of test wickets in partnership to 1,009 in 103 matches, eclipsing the record of 1,001 previously held by Australians Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. England will now take a 1-0 series lead into the second and final test in Wellington from Friday. “Obviously another great performance. We were very clinical with the bat and obviously very clinical with the ball,” England captain Ben Stokes said. “When you’ve got Stuart Broad and James Anderson in your bowling attack it’s obviously going to very hard for anyone with a bat in their hand.” New Zealand had shown some signs of resistance after the collapse of its top order when allrounders Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell stuck together for almost an hour before stumps on day three. The resistance was broken spinner when Jack Leach removed Bracewell (25) in the third over of the day Sunday and England resumed a rapid push for victory. Read more: Australia's Warner ruled out of 2nd test with concussion Anderson trapped Scott Kuggeleijn lbw next over, then had New Zealand captain Tim Southee caught first ball by Joe Root at slip with his next ball and the England players likely were setting up tee times with the end in sight. Neil Wagner followed quickly but Mitchell and last man Blair Tickner made England wait a little longer, sticking together for almost 11 overs. Mitchell was able to post his sixth test half-century and he finished unbeaten on 57. “All credit to England. They strategically played it pretty well,” New Zealand captain Tim Southee said. “We were on the receiving end of a couple of night periods which obviously weren’t ideal. “That spell (by Broad) last night was obviously impressive but we knew if we got through last night there would not be many demons in the pitch today. I think it’s credit to the way they bowled under lights last night.” Almost from the first ball of the match the difference between the teams was obvious: England constantly was on the attack, New Zealand constantly was defensive. Even when it lost the toss, England was determined to go on the offensive and opener Ben Duckett blasted a half-century from 37 balls to put his team on the front foot. New Zealand hung in at times but never gained the upper hand. England twice routed New Zealand’s top order under floodlights when the ball moved around more than in daylight on a relatively docile pitch. That was not by accident but design. Stokes made the second-earliest first day declaration in test history when he ended his team’s first innings at 325-9 almost 90 minutes before stumps. In that period Anderson and Ollie Robinson dismissed Kane Williamson, Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls and left New Zealand 37-3 before it clawed back to 306 with Tom Blundell’s 138 on the second day. England then raced to 374 in its second innings at a one-day international rate of more than five runs an over with half-centuries to Joe Root, Harry Brook and Ben Foakes. England’s lead was 393 and the innings ended again in time to send New Zealand in under floodlights for the second time. This time Broad wrecked the New Zealand top order, bowling Devon Conway, Latham, Williamson and Blundell. “It was all set up,” Broad said. “The way we set the whole game up, we were building towards knowing we wanted to bowl as much as possible under the lights with the harder pink ball. “All our conversations through the day were about not so much (about) runs but the timing of when to bowl, which is a bit weird but that’s the day-night system. It’s nice to be on that side, and you’ve got to put a lot of work in to control when you can bowl at the good times.” That control is the essence of Bazball, the doctrine of Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum. Bazball is mischaracterized when it is portrayed as a policy of attack without restraint or caution. It is about taking control and dictating terms as England did when they were able to cherry pick when they wanted to bowl.

All Blacks head coach Ian Foster seems safe in his position for the moment though New Zealand Rugby on Sunday described the All Blacks' series defeat by Ireland as “not acceptable.” Ireland beat New Zealand 32-22 in the third test on Saturday to win a test series in New Zealand for the first time and become the first team since Australia in 1986 to beat the All Blacks in a three-test series at home. Foster was due to face reporters in a regularly-scheduled news conference on Sunday but the conference was cancelled without explanation. Speaking to reporters immediately after Saturday’s match, Foster refused to discuss his own position, saying he “just wanted to talk about this test match.” Foster’s future as head coach has been the subject of speculation for some time as the All Blacks go through an almost record-breaking spell of poor form. Saturday’s loss was their fourth from their last five test matches, and their fifth against Ireland in their last eight test meetings. The All Blacks’ only comparable slumps came in 1998 when they lost five tests in a row to strong South African and Australian teams and 1949 when an an under-strength All Blacks team lost all four tests in South Africa. New Zealand Rugby was forced to respond Sunday to growling public criticism of the All Blacks form and direction under Foster. That criticism has become louder because New Zealand’s consecutive test match losses to Ireland come only 13 months out from the next World Cup. Read: Rugby proposed to be included in South Asian Games 2023 A statement released after the cancellation of Foster’s scheduled meeting with reporters suggested he will continue as coach through this year’s Rugby Championship. “Congratulations to the Irish team for their well-deserved win last night but clearly the performance across the series for the All Blacks was not acceptable as we know they have reflected,” NZR chief executive Mark Robinson said. “We all know there is a huge amount of work to do. “Our focus now is to work with Ian and his team to understand thoroughly in advance of the Rugby Championship what is needed to improve performance and where to from here. We will begin this work immediately.” Robinson’s statement is unlikely to allay fan concerns. All Blacks supporters will need rapid assurance that Foster, his assistants and his current All Blacks can continue on their current course and somehow produce better results. Foster is unlikely to have made himself more popular among fans by suggesting on Saturday they lacked insight to recognize the quality of the Ireland team. “New Zealand has to realize this is a very good Irish team and give them some credit,” Foster said. “It would be disrespectful to not make that the number one item. They’ve come and achieved something pretty special and they deserve a bit of time in the sun for that. “For us we’re a group working hard. We’ve got a lot of belief in many of the solutions we’ve got but we’ve got to get better at executing them.”  

New Zealand unearthed a significant new talent in fast bowler Kyle Jamieson during the two-test sweep of top-ranked India. Now the dilemma is how to accommodate Jamieson in a well-established and successful lineup.

Mayank Agarwal posted his fourth test half-century as India trailed New Zealand by 105 runs with eight second innings wickets in hand at tea Sunday on the third day of the second test.