NZ vs ENG: England second team to lose a Test after enforcing follow-on as New Zealand wins by 1 run

NZ vs ENG: England joined Australia as the second team to lose a Test after enforcing follow-on during a one-run defeat to New Zealand in Wellington on Tuesday.

New Zealand’s Neil Wagner celebrates after taking the final wicket of England’s James Anderson to hand a one-run win for the host. | Photo Credit: AFP

England became just the second team to lose a Test match after enforcing the follow-on as it surrendered to a dramatic one-run defeat against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Tuesday.

The defeat on Day 5 meant that host New Zealand levelled the two-match series 1-1 being played outside the current World Test Championship cycle.

Batting first, England totalled a massive 435 for eight declared with centuries from Harry Brook (186) and Joe Root (153) before the bowlers bundled New Zealand for 209. England captain Ben Stokes then enforced the follow-on with a 226-run first-innings lead during the first session on Day 3.

Led by Kane Williamson’s 26th Test hundred, the Kiwis then posted a remarkable 483, setting England 258-run target late on Day 4. The visitor charged early on Day 5 with an attacking 95 from Root before left-arm seamer Neil Wagner picked up three middle-order wickets to force the game down to the wire. England required seven runs at the fall of the ninth wicket. The last pair of Jack Leach and James Anderson braved 15 deliveries before Wagner had Anderson caught behind down the leg-side to eke out a dramatic win.

England joined Australia as the only other team to lose a Test after enforcing follow-on. Austalia, however, was previously involved three such finishes, twice against England in 1894 and 1981 and once against India in 2001.

New Zealand’s win is also the joint-smallest margin of wins in Test cricket history.

Teams to lose a Test after enforcing follow-on

• Australia (586 & 166) lost by 10 runs to England (325 & 437) - First Innings lead - 261 - Sydney Cricket Ground - December 14, 1894.
• Australia (9/401 dec & 111) lost by 18 runs to England (174 & 356) - First Innings lead - 227 - Headingley - July 16, 1981
• Australia (445 & 212) lost by 171 runs to India (171 & 7/657 dec) - First innings lead - 274 - Eden Gardens - March 11, 2001
• England (435/8 dec & 256) lost by 1 run to New Zealand (209 & 483) - First innings lead - 226 - Basin Reserve - February 28, 2023

Smallest margins of Test wins (by runs)

• 1 run - New Zealand v England, Wellington 2023
• 1 run - West Indies v Australia, Adelaide 1993
• 2 runs - England v Australia, Birmingham 2005
• 3 runs - Australia v England, Manchester 1902
• 3 runs - Engand v Australia, Melbourne 1982