Sat Dec 07 00:12:28 UTC 2024: ## Brook Blasts Century to Rescue England in Wellington
**Wellington, New Zealand:** Harry Brook smashed a magnificent century, his eighth in Test cricket, to rescue England from a precarious position on day one of the Wellington Test against New Zealand. Brook’s 100, achieved off just 91 balls with nine fours and five sixes (a strike rate exceeding 100), was his third Test century against New Zealand – all scored on Kiwi soil.
England’s top order crumbled early, losing four wickets for only 50 runs. However, Brook’s counter-attacking innings steadied the ship and propelled the team’s score. He formed a crucial 174-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Ollie Pope, transforming the score from a perilous 43/4 to a more respectable 217/5.
This latest century continues Brook’s exceptional record against New Zealand. In only five Tests against the Kiwis, he has now amassed over 600 runs at an average of 119.80, including two previous centuries and a further fifty. Remarkably, he has recorded five scores of fifty or more in his last six innings against New Zealand.
First Piper 