In the first Test against New Zealand at Hagley Oval, star England batter Joe Root faced a heavy turning point in his career. Nathan Smith, a rookie from New Zealand, dismissed Root for a four ball duck in his 150th Test. The dismissal of Root put him on an enviable list of batters for the most ducks in the World Test championship (WTC) , as he surpassed players like Virat Kohli and Steve Smith. It was his eighth in the WTC and his overall 13th in Test cricket.
After the early dismissal of Zak Crawley, debutant seamer Smith got an early start, as he removed England’s Jacob Bethell and Root in the same over, which eventually brought the visitors down to 45/3. The ejection of Ben Duckett added to the problems of England, which left them down to 71/4.
After all of that, some stability was provided by a mighty 103-run partnership between Ollie Pope (59*) and Harry Brook (54*). England was at 174/4 by the time it was tea break, which was still 174 runs behind the 348 first-inning total of New Zealand.
Players who got out on duck in their 150th Test:
- Steve Waugh (AUS vs PAK, Sharjah, 2002) – 1st ball
- Ricky Ponting (AUS vs ENG, Adelaide, 2010) – 1st ball
- Joe Root (ENG vs NZ, Christchurch, 2024) – 4th ball
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