Broad rips through New Zealand

(ESPNCRICINFO) - They call him the Nighthawk, and sure enough, Stuart Broad was England's agent of chaos under the Mount Maunganui floodlights … not, as had been hyped, with the bat, but instead in his more familiar guise, an irresistible display of throwback fast bowling that tore the lid clean off New Zealand's second innings, and set his team up for an inevitable tenth win in 11 Tests.

Four wickets, four bowled, all four through the gate in the space of 27 balls. For a time it seemed inevitable that Broad was about to surge to a five-wicket haul in the space of a single spell for the eighth time in his remarkable career. Instead, New Zealand regrouped to a degree by the close, to limp to 63 for 5 but with their dimand-distant target of 394 little more than a pipe-dream.

Ironically, the only New Zealander to get the better of Broad on a memorable third day was the same man whose bowling figures went down in history for a very different reason. After his comic antics with the bat on the second evening, Broad was quickly bombed out by a bouncer in Neil Wagner's second over of the day - a rare personal high spot for Wagner, who bore the brunt of England's subsequent batting onslaught with the eye-watering figures of 13-0-110-2, the second-most expensive economy rate in Test history.

Wagner's indefatigability has been a defining feature of New Zealand's World Test Championship-winning teambut this was a beasting like few others. After resuming with an overnight lead of 98, England clattered a remarkable 158 runs in the morning session, but leaked four wickets in the process - leading the team to apply a relative hand-brake throughout the afternoon, eventually landing their innings on an imposing 374, 20 minutes after the dinner break, like a glider pilot on a bombed-out runway. With the floodlights just kicking in as they did so, it meant New Zealand were faced with batting through the twilight, just as they had done on the first day. Broad made it his mission to ensure that they couldn't.

From the outset of his spell, Broad's length was full going on fuller, with his round-thewicket angle initially straying into the pads of New Zealand's left-handers, particularly Tom Latham, who clipped his second ball through midwicket for four. But England under Ben

Stokes have no interest in the odd leaked boundary - just ask Jasprit Bumrah. Broad's only interest in this passage of play was to keep the stumps in play.

And crikey, how he delivered. With the final ball of his second over, Broad got his angles spot on. Devon Conway, so steadfast in New Zealand's first innings, drove without due care as the ball kept shaping back in through his defence, rattling the top of middle to depart for 2. In the process, Broad put the seal on his ascent, with James Anderson, to the top of the partnership pile - it was their 1002nd wicket in 15 years as a Test-match pairing, surpassing the mighty Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.

And if, throughout their 133 matches in tandem, there's always been the sense that Anderson is the deliverer of relentless excellence, then Broad is the man whose hot spells are the most irresistible. When, five balls later, he claimed New Zealand's kingpin, Kane Williamson, with another wicked seamer, you just knew he was back on one of those rolls.