Harry Brook’s seventh Test hundred and Ollie Pope’s timely 77 rescued England after a top-order collapse as the tourists cut a wasteful New Zealand’s lead to 29 on day two of the first Test.

England were reeling on 71-4, at which point they trailed by 277, as ducks for Zak Crawley and Joe Root sandwiched Jacob Bethell (10 off 34) snicking behind on a scratchy debut from an unfamiliar No 3 spot and Ben Duckett (46) caught on the hook in Christchurch.

However, Brook (132no) and Pope rode their luck to share a fifth-wicket stand of 151 – Brook was dropped on 18, 41 and 72 and then again on 106 while adding an unbroken 97 with captain Ben Stokes (37no) – as England closed on 319-5 in reply to New Zealand’s 348.

Stokes was also the beneficiary of a drop as New Zealand skipper Tom Latham shelled his third catch of the day – and the team’s sixth – at short cover close to stumps, reprieving the left-hander on 30.

Brook – who became the second-fastest Englishman to 2,000 Test runs in terms of innings (36), behind only Herbert Sutcliffe (33) – was shelled by Glenn Phillips at gully, Latham at first slip and Devon Conway at deep midwicket before reaching his hundred from 123 balls, shortly after a superb scooped four.

Pope, pushed down the order to No 6 due to him also keeping wicket in this Test, was his usual skittish self at times but managed to peel off a much-needed score after averaging a paltry 11 with a best of 29 while batting at No 3 during October’s 2-1 series defeat in Pakistan.

However, England may now be reluctant to move Pope back up after this knock of note – during which he passed 3,000 Test runs – perhaps reopening the age-old debate of who should bat at No 3.

There will be no shifting Brook from No 5, with the Yorkshireman now averaging a shade over 60 in 22 Tests – and over 90 away from home – after New Zealand wicketkeeper Tom Blundell grassed him late in the evening shortly after he had reached three figures.

Bethell falls cheaply on debut after New Zealand 348 all out

New Zealand added 29 runs to their overnight 319-8 as England seamer Brydon Carse (4-64) continued the promising start to his Test career that began in Pakistan by taking the final two wickets, bouncing out Tim Southee (15) and bowling Will O’Rourke (0).

Carse, who looks like he could be a real threat in next winter’s Ashes series, also struck Phillips on the grille and had him dropped on 42 by Root at slip as he significantly outbowled Chris Woakes (0-70).

Southee, in his final series before retirement, began the England innings with a pinpoint maiden to Crawley and the latter went on to be trapped lbw by Matt Henry for a 12-ball duck in the fourth over.

That brought Bethell to the crease, with the 21-year-old batting at No 3 for the first time his first-class career having been handed that spot despite a red-ball average of 25.44 and no centuries.

The 21-year-old took 13 balls to get off the mark and was stuck on one after 26 before he struck two boundaries in three balls off fellow debutant Nathan Smith, through midwicket and past gully.

Smith (2-86) exacted revenge in his two-wicket next over, finding the edge off Bethell’s bat with a jaffa.

He then forced Root to chop on for nought on the stroke of lunch as the batter’s first knock in his landmark 150th Test came to a premature end after just four deliveries, two of them no-balls – it was Root’s first duck in 40 Test innings, stretching back to December 2022 in Pakistan when he was nicked off by Nauman Ali.

Duckett, dropped on 23 by Latham off Henry, was the fourth England player out, top-edging England-born New Zealand seamer O’Rourke to Conway at deep backward square in the second session.

England could have wilted from that point and may have done had New Zealand’s fielding been up to scratch but Brook, and latterly Stokes, profited from the hosts’ constant sloppiness.

England’s Test tour of New Zealand

• First Test: November 28-December 2 (Christchurch)
• Second Test: December 6-10 (Wellington)
• Third Test: December 14-18 (Hamilton)

Ruben Amorim was touched by his special Old Trafford welcome and said he already feels a sense of belonging after overseeing a helter-skelter first victory as Manchester United head coach.

Having kicked off his reign with Sunday’s 1-1 Premier League draw at promoted Ipswich, the 39-year-old Portuguese led the side out on home soil for the first time in Thursday’s Europa League group win over Norway’s Bodo/Glimt.

United got off to a blistering start as Alejandro Garnacho capitalised on goalkeeper Nikita Haikin’s early error, only for Bodo to take a shock lead through Hakon Evjen and Philip Zinckernagel goals.

Rasmus Hojlund equalised with a fine volley just before the break and scored another shortly after half-time to secure a 3-2 triumph and Amorim’s first win on his first Old Trafford outing.

“It was special because half of the stadium doesn’t know me,” the United head coach said. “You can say I came from Portugal, and half of the stadium doesn’t know me.

“I have done nothing for this club yet, but the way they support me in the beginning, I felt that I’m not alone.

“I’m like one of them now, and it was really special. I hope not to disappoint my supporters.

“I think we improve different things since the last game. I know it’s a different competition, different team, but we improve with the ball.

“We control the tempo more with the ball, we push the team a little bit more higher, we create more chances.

“We should kill the game before the end. You suffer two transitions. I think we need to improve on that because it was like runs, it was like a physical thing, one against one.

“You have to improve on that, but I like some things that the team did today.”

Amorim on how Hojlund must improve

Amorim made six alterations from Sunday’s Premier League draw at Ipswich, including bringing Hojlund into the starting line-up.

The 21-year-old striker has not shone consistently since joining from Atalanta in 2023 and doubled his tally for the season with a pair of impressive finishes against Bodo.

“I think he improved the connection,” Amorim said of Hojlund. “I think he has to improve more because sometimes he gives too many touches when he holds the ball.

“But it’s very important for us because when we are in the low block he is the guy to hold the ball. It connects for transitions. He did that very well, he has that characteristics.

“He was aggressive in the goals, he was aggressive in the box and he’s a quality player.

“I think he scores the most difficult goals, so he has a lot to improve, as is the same for every player, but he did a great job today.”

How Amorim adapted to win his first game

Sky Sports’ Zinny Boswell:

Amorim warned that his team would have to suffer as they adapt to his new system and that came to fruition against Bodo/Glimt as Norway’s champions exposed some glaring holes.

Although the pressing of the team was far more impressive with Hojlund and Mason Mount in the front three, there were problems further back in defence.

Amorim wants his right and left centre-backs to push right up to win the ball high in midfield, but the other players appeared unclear about what their responsibilities were in these moments.

For Evjen’s pinpoint equaliser, Mazraoui had pressed up to try and regain the ball, forcing Ugarte to cover which left a hole on the edge of the box that should have been filled by Bruno Fernandes, operating further back than at Ipswich.

It was too late when he realised the amount of space on the edge of the box for Evjen, who found the top corner.

Then for the second Lisandro Martinez was deep in the opposition half, leaving Tyrell Malacia one-vs-one against Zinckernagel. The returning defender, who had a head start, was left for dead. All it took was a long ball over the top to expose the gap.

Hojlund’s first goal, the equaliser that made it 2-2, was an example of this strategy working to perfection. United were high up the pitch and lost the ball, but Mazraoui stepped up to intercept and ended the move as the provider.

Diogo Dalot was brought on at the break for the Malacia, making his first appearance for United for 550 days, after he was exposed for Bodo’s second.

United remained in a back three in possession, Dalot coming inside almost as a No 10, but reverted to a back four without the ball to address the problems that led to the Norwegian champions picking the hosts apart in the first half.

It was not plain sailing from thereon out, but United were markedly improved. Amorim is experiencing teething problems but showed enough adaptability to get over the line for his first win.

The 20 Formula 1 drivers, the FIA and the stewards held a “productive” meeting on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix to discuss the sport’s overtaking rules.

The discussion comes a month on from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ fierce battles at the United States and Mexico City Grand Prix, where they were embroiled in controversial incidents.

Norris was given a five-second time penalty for overtaking Verstappen off the track in Austin, as the Red Bull driver was first to the apex of the corner. However, Norris, and other drivers, felt Verstappen pushed his rival off the track.

A week later in Mexico, Verstappen was handed two 10-second time penalties for his actions in wheel-to-wheel combat with Norris.

Verstappen, who sealed a fourth consecutive F1 title in Las Vegas, has openly stated he races to the regulations.

“I think we still need, for sure, a few more discussions about certain things,” said Verstappen.

“But I think it more has to do with the track layout. Some places you have a lot of run-off and that creates a lot of issues, that’s something we have to work on in the future. That’s the main problem.

“If you have gravel, that stops you from doing things that takes a bit more risk than normal.”

George Russell, who is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, was one of numerous drivers who were given a penalty in Austin for allegedly forcing another driver off the track when overtaking.

The Mercedes driver has been vocal for more consistency in the sport and hopes for clearer rules in 2025.

“It was a productive meeting. I don’t think a lot needed to be changed,” he told Sky Sports F1.

“Just the odd sentence that needed to be got rid of, such as if you are overtaking on the inside you need to leave a car’s width from apex to exit, hence why I got the penalty in Austin.

“There wasn’t necessarily anything in the guidelines about Max’s manoeuvre, if you dive bomb and go off the track. That was effectively out of control.

“Everyone is in agreement with these things. It’s not like you have to turn the whole thing upside down and rewrite the whole rulebook. Just the odd thing needed to be changed. That’s been positive.”

Speaking to the written media, Russell said what drivers ultimately wanted to see was changes to circuit design to provide a natural deterrent to drivers trying to run wide.

“If you are able to stay on the circuit [when overtaking on the inside] you are in your right to run the driver wide, as it has been for all of us since go-karts,” he said.

“We also concluded that most of these issues are down to the circuits. We spoke about a number of issues in Austin, I think a lot of the overtakes wouldn’t have even been attempted had there been gravel there such as Austria Turn Four, the downhill right-hander – you’re going to go in the gravel if you’re one or two per cent over the limit.

“Silverstone at Stowe, there was some great racing a couple of years ago with Lewis, Checo and Charles but ultimately everyone was off the track and that’s because the track allows you so.

“So the circuits are the root cause and the drivers are an interim fix that we can agree on until we can get all of the circuits into a proper manner.”

Hamilton ‘welcomes’ more conversations in the future

Hamilton is aware of Verstappen’s aggressive more than any driver on the grid, having gone head-to-head with the Dutchman in the controversial 2021 season.

The seven-time world champion says F1 is now “going in the right direction” after Thursday’s discussion, which lasted around one hour.

“The meeting was really productive. It’s the first time we really sat down with them,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.

“We had clear and open discussions with the stewards, who have such a difficult job. Every overtake and every scenario is so different to the other.

“There’s nothing that will change for these two races but for next year, we are working on the process and hopefully we welcome having more conversations with them moving forwards.”

He later added to the written media: “In their [ the stewards’] minds, this year, it has been better in terms of consistency but obviously everyone wants to be perfect.

“Until you have those discussions, they won’t fully understand from where we are sitting and what we are fighting for is right or wrong, in certain scenarios. It’s good for them to hear, and for us to work on clear guidelines, so from also in the car, you know what you have.

“For example, there was talk about a warning but you know if you have that one warning and you wait for the last race of the year to utilise your warning, that doesn’t work.”

Sky Sports F1’s live Qatar GP schedule

Friday November 29
9.55am: F1 Academy Practice One
11am: F2 Practice
1pm: Qatar GP Practice One (practice starts at 1.30pm)
2.55pm: F1 Academy Practice Two
4.05pm: F2 Qualifying
5pm: Qatar GP Sprint Qualifying (qualifying starts at 5.30pm)*

Saturday November 30
12.10pm: F1 Academy Qualifying
1pm: Qatar GP Sprint build-up
2pm: QATAR GP SPRINT
3.30pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook
4pm: F2 Sprint Race
5.15pm: Qatar GP Qualifying build-up
6pm: QATAR GP QUALIFYING
8pm: F1 Academy: Race One
8.45pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday December 1
10.55am: F1 Academy Race Two
12.15pm: F2 Feature Race
2.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Qatar GP build-up
4pm: THE QATAR GRAND PRIX
6pm: Chequered Flag: Qatar GP reaction
7pm: Ted’s Notebook

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1’s season-ending triple-header continues this weekend with the Qatar Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream the final two F1 races and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime