18 February 2023 , 09:27
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Stuart Broad has been lauded after the England legend produced a brilliant spell of bowling to leave Ben Stokes' side on the verge of victory in the first Test against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui.
Broad has a history of delivering remarkable spells for England, most notably his 8-15 at Trent Bridge in the 2015 Ashes, and he produced yet more magic to leave New Zealand reeling at 63-5 in their pursuit of 394.
Having been outshined by James Anderson and Ollie Robinson in New Zealand's first innings, Broad took centre stage in their second as he picked up 4-21 in a stunning ten over spell with a new pink ball under lights in what he felt were "perfect" conditions for him.
"We shouldn't be surprised really, should we?" Broad's former captain Sir Alastair Cook told BT Sport. "After all the build-up with the bat he probably would have walked off with his feathers, or tail, between his little legs with a little bit of embarrassment at the batting because there'd been so much talk about it.
"And then he always has a way of making an impact on the game. His first over wasn't the best over and you didn't really see it coming, but for whatever reason, as we know from his illustrious career, he just gets on that roll and he was unplayable and relentlessly good in a 10-over spell.
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"That's the Stuart Broad we have come to know and we should really admire." Teammate Chris Woakes, meanwhile, hailed Broad's "incredible skill", adding: "It is just relentless.
"The ability to be able to challenge a batsman's defence over and over again is an incredible skill to have. When Broady is in that mood and his legs are pumping, he's got this knack of getting on these spells.
Another stellar showing from Stuart Broad"Once you get a couple of wickets and Stuart is in that mood, even when a ball hits the middle of the bat, there is noise around the bat. An atmosphere is building and you feel like you're on top."
Reflecting on his spell after the close of play, Broad revealed he had taken some encouragement from the way New Zealand captain Tim Southee had bowled to Joe Root earlier in the day.
"The way the batters set it up, we know in these day-night games that the more you can bowl with the pink ball in these twilight periods, the better," he told BT Sport. "You can see the style of our batting that we were trying to have as many overs as possible in the best time to bowl.
"I saw from Timmy [Southee] bowling this morning, rolling his fingers across the ball and saw it nip to Rooty. That was quite encouraging.
"Although the pitch has played quite true in the day, when the evenings come, it has jagged around a bit. So my game plan was to hit the pitch as hard as I can with the wobble seam.
"It's almost like the perfect dryness of pitch for my type of bowling. I didn't have to chase too full. I could bowl it hard into the pitch and bring the stumps into play. It's always nice when you get a few quality batters out bowled."