England's Harry Brook attributes his 7th Test century to luck

Christchurch, New Zealand: England's up-and-coming batting star Harry Brook humbly acknowledged that his seventh Test century during the series opener against New Zealand in Christchurch was a stroke of luck.

New Zealand granted Brook five lifelines, and the 25-year-old made the most of them. He played a commanding knock of 171, propelling England to a formidable total of 499.

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transform: rotate(32deg); animation: shinerMooving 3s infinite; z-index: 1; filter: blur(1px); } @keyframes shinerMooving { 0% { left: -40px; } 100% { left: 150%; } } Top 15 buys at IPL 2025 Auction Rishabh Pant ₹ 27 Cr DC LSG Total Match 111 Total Runs 3284 Highest Score 128 runs Shreyas Iyer ₹ 26.75 Cr KKR PBKS Total Match 115 Total Runs 3127 Highest Score 96 runs Venkatesh Iyer ₹ 23.75 Cr KKR KKR Total Match 50 Total Runs 1326 Highest Score 104 runs Wickets 3 Best Bowling 2/29 Arshdeep Singh ₹ 18 Cr PBKS PBKS Total Match 65 Total Runs 29 Highest Score 10 runs Wickets 76 Best Bowling 5/32 Yuzvendra Chahal ₹ 18 Cr RR PBKS Total Match 260 Total Runs 37 Highest Score 8 runs Wickets 205 Best Bowling 5/40 Jos Buttler ₹ 15.75 Cr RR GT Total Match 107 Total Runs 3582 Highest Score 124 runs KL Rahul ₹ 14 Cr LSG DC Total Match 132 Total Runs 4683 Highest Score 132 runs Trent Boult ₹ 12.50 Cr RR MI Total Match 104 Total Runs 83 Highest Score 17 runs Wickets 121 Best Bowling 4/18 Jofra Archer ₹ 12.50 Cr MI RR Total Match 35 Total Runs 195 Highest Score 27 runs Wickets 46 Best Bowling 3/15 Josh Hazlewood ₹ 12.50 Cr RCB RCB Total Match 12 Total Runs - Highest Score - Wickets 12 Best Bowling 3/24 Mohammed Siraj ₹ 12.25 Cr RCB GT Total Match 93 Total Runs 109 Highest Score 14 runs Wickets 93 Best Bowling 4/21 Mitchell Starc ₹ 11.75 Cr KKR DC Total Match 41 Total Runs 105 Highest Score 29 runs Wickets 51 Best Bowling 4/15 Phil Salt ₹ 11.50 Cr DC RCB Total Match 21 Total Runs 653 Highest Score 89 runs Ishan Kishan ₹ 11.25 Cr MI SRH Total Match 105 Total Runs 2644 Highest Score 99 runs Wickets - Best Bowling - Jitesh Sharma ₹ 11 Cr PBKS RCB Total Match 40 Total Runs 730 Highest Score 49 runs Check Full Coverage

The 499-run total put England in a dominant position, as New Zealand ended day three trailing by just four runs with only four wickets in hand.

Brook began day three alongside England's Test captain Ben Stokes. The pair added 39 runs from 34 deliveries, taking England past New Zealand's first-innings total of 348.

"I had a lot of luck, didn't I? Jesus," Brook remarked, reflecting on the multiple chances he received during his 171-run innings, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 159-run partnership came to an end when Brook edged a delivery from Matt Henry to wicketkeeper Tom Blundell.

Brook's dismissal lifted the spirits of the New Zealand players, who had been visibly frustrated as the Englishman began to accelerate his scoring.

Brook was dropped four times on Friday, when he was on scores of 18, 41, 70, and 106. On Saturday, New Zealand spilled another opportunity when he was on 147.

The young English batter noted that not all the missed chances were straightforward, particularly given the power with which he struck the ball, as evidenced by his 18 boundaries.

"That first drop, especially, I'm not sure many people are catching that, to be honest. I hit that very hard," he said.

"I do throw my hands at it quite hard sometimes, and it's going to take a good catch at gully, especially with the viewing conditions. Just go out there, watch the ball, and try to hit it really," he added.

Brook's continued success against New Zealand is evident in his record: two centuries and two fifties in five innings. His only failure came with a duck in the fourth innings of the memorable 2023 Wellington Test.

Explaining his approach against New Zealand, Brook said, "I've just gone out there and tried to play the ball, really. The pitches have been fairly good with a bit of pace and bounce, and if you get it past the infield, it's usually four. I've tried to use the pace, ride the bounce, and had quite a bit of luck this week."

New Zealand ended the day at 155/6, with Daryl Mitchell and Nathan Smith unbeaten on 31 and 1 , respectively.

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