ENG VS NZ - 1st Test, New Zealand tour of England, 2021

Gabba-2021 has spoilt us. While we kept waiting for a Rishabh Pant to show up, this England side had one Pujara too many. But cricket, and in particular Test cricket, owe New Zealand a great deal. Remember, this series means nothing; it's not even a part of the next WTC cycle. They could've easily treated this as a practice net, batted out the day, shut shop, gone boring, blamed it on the rain. Instead they've risked running their bowlers to the ground with an intense workout, given that the next Test is only three days away. They risked everything. If only England were half as brave. If only. Anyway, it was fun bringing you this, as I, Vineet Anantharaman, sign off on behalf of Raju Peethala, Pradeep Krishnamurthy and our scorer, Mukesh Gowda. Until Edgbaston, and hopefully less conservatism, ta ta!!

Devon Conway | MoM: Never imagined standing in this position after my Test debut. Credit to Williamson for winning the toss and batting first. The surface was slightly on the slower side and deteriorated throughout. The way we played today was great. The pitch was a good Test match wicket, good for batsmen and with something in it for the bowlers as well. I have had my sessions with Kane earlier as well. Had I made it at a younger age I wouldn't have played as I did now. The bowlers hit a length consistently and didn't let me score. Just knowing that they weren't going to leak many runs and accepting that became part of my gameplan.

Joe Root | England captain: We tried to lay a platform at the start, but unfortunately didn't materialize the way we would have liked. It would have been easy to go hard early today, but it was a tricky wicket. We felt we didn't have enough overs to go for it. It was about the conditions more than the talent in the dressing room. Once that decision was made to close the day out and play for a draw, we had to make sure we weren't silly as batters. It was an easy decision to leave out a spinner when you have such a great battery of fast bowlers. They did a fantastic job. Rory did a fantastic job. The way he played was phenomenal, coming back into the side and carrying his form from Surrey. It's been tough on Ollie [Robinson]. He has learnt a very hard lesson. He showed a lot of remorse and dealt with a huge range of emotions. As a squad we need to keep looking to educate and make the sport as inclusive as we can. As a team we are committed to do that. We aren't saying we are perfect, but we are learning our lessons. I am not sure about his selection for the next Test.

Kane Williamson | New Zealand captain: Obviously we had a little bit of work to do before declaration. The guys came out and hit hard and the weather forced the declaration a little bit. The wicket was deteriorating, and had it not been for that lost day, we would've had a cracking finish. Scoring was reasonably slow throughout the day, and all in all, with only four days, some fantastic cricket was played. Incredibly special performance from Conway. A special player, he's come into the side and shown his class. He played within himself, he's a brilliant player and it is an incredible feat. Incredible contribution from Tim Southee as well. He led the attack brilliantly and the guys around him contributed as well. Both teams could have done with an additional day and pushed their case further. Boult is here and he should be bowling pretty soon.

It's a day that went against all preconceived plans -- conventional logic would've dictated New Zealand to bat on. They didn't. Rain was expected to come down heavily in the evening. It didn't. England really should've shown more intent in the chase. They didn't. It will go down in scorecards as a dull draw. No, really, it wasn't. It was anything but dull. From Conway's emotional double century, to Robinson's sharp all-round effort on the verge of a possible ban, to Burns' dogged knock in wiping out the follow-on, to Southee's wily seam bowling, to Williamson's sporting declaration, there's a lot history will take out of take out of this one. Okay, here come the presentations ..

19:05 Local Time, 23:35 IST | Stumps: Handshakes. Playing for a draw is one thing. And not trying to win is another. England did the latter. Sure this pitch wasn't the simplest. Sure, this bowling wasn't the easiest. Sure, this English batting line-up is terribly short on confidence. But surely they could've at least tried. Nope. New Zealand tried their heart out, their best bowlers bowled five spells each, beat the bat a zillion times and kept up the intensity right up until the very end. You don't expect Rory Burns and Dom Sibley to go nuts in a chase, but when Joe Root comes out and goes on a blockathon, you know the writing's on the wall. Nevertheless, it took forever for Williamson and his men to throw in the towel. Most teams wouldn't have taken it past the final hour. But the Kiwis kept trying, every trick in the book, every bowling combination possible, every angle possible, but in the end, Sibley's stonewalling was a little too hard to get past.

Santner to Ollie Pope, no run, on off, length, forward block. And finally, FINALLY, Williamson has had enough

Santner to Ollie Pope, no run, full, on the legs, wristily driven to mid-on

Santner to Ollie Pope, no run, scoots low .. on a length, and Pope looks to play it off the back foot, having to really hurry and somehow jam his bat down in the way. Well, he does

Santner to Ollie Pope, no run, full, leg-lined, clipped out softly, defensively

Santner to Ollie Pope, 2 runs, the arm ball, flat on leg-stump, and tickled away really fine

Santner to Ollie Pope, no run, a dash of an inside-out drive in this, but straight to extra cover

Jamieson to Sibley, no run, wide bouncer, easily ducked, wayward wasted effort

Jamieson to Sibley, no run, fourth-stump, good length, Sibley shuffles, gets fully behind the line, and blocks

Jamieson to Sibley, no run, bouncer, and even under this dying light, Sibley's focussed enough to duck early

Jamieson to Ollie Pope, 1 run, straying into the hips, glanced away to deep square leg

Jamieson to Ollie Pope, no ball, fifth-stump, probing around on a length. A front foot stuck out, and left. Another over, another overstep

Jamieson to Ollie Pope, no run, back of a length, nipping in, back-footed checked poke to point

Jamieson to Ollie Pope, no run, full, outside off, and Pope inside-halves a leaning cover drive to a diving CdG at short mid-wicket

Santner to Sibley, no run, leg-lined, and kicked away. And just a polite non-review-worthy appeal. It in fact is pitching in line according to the ball tracking, but it's going over the stumps