Tea England 73 for 1 (Duckett 52*, Bethell 16*) trail New Zealand 438 (Conway 157, Latham 151, Stokes 4-70) by 365 runs
Stokes took three wickets during an eight-over spell before lunch, as New Zealand’s middle order struggled to build on the foundation laid by the openers, Tom Latham and Devon Conway. Shoaib Bashir then bounced back from dropping Tom Blundell to take two in an over, before Jofra Archer finished the innings with his second wicket, leaving England to begin their reply in bright sunshine.
Duckett, who had twice drilled Smith for fours in his opening over, was in the mood to make New Zealand pay for such generosity. His next ball also disappeared through the covers, and he used the knowledge of his home ground to good effect, cutting, pulling and clipping his way to ten boundaries in the session, one of which raised England’s 50 in the 11th over.
With Jacob Bethell recovering from a scratchy start to add 65 in partnership with Duckett, England could hope to make New Zealand sweat in the field in much the same way they had through two-and-a-half sessions on day one.
New Zealand’s score of 438, while respectable, was nevertheless the third-lowest in Test history for any innings featuring a 300-run partnership – behind England’s 407 against India at Edgbaston last summer, and 431 made by West Indies at Sabina Park in 1999 – and the lowest when those runs had been scored by the openers.
It didn’t all go perfectly for England. Archer had been frustrated to see Blundell put down, having found his top edge with a well-directed short ball. Bashir made up the ground from deep backward square leg, but couldn’t cling on as he dived forward. Archer’s chagrin appeared to extend to not joining the huddle to celebrate Bashir’s breakthrough a few balls later, when Smith drilled a return catch back – at least until Stokes made a point of calling the fast bowler up from fine leg.
Bashir made it two in four balls when Blundell missed a reverse-hoick at a delivery from round the wicket, which ball-tracking showed had pitched in line on review. With Nos. 10 and 11 at the crease, Archer twice had Blair Tickner ducking and diving before delivering a full, straight one to pin Ben Sears in front of leg stump first ball.
Having lost two wickets off the last two balls of day one, New Zealand added 57 to their overnight 361 for 4 during the morning session. In the end, Blundell’s 30 was the only score of note as they fell well short of 500 – a total that looked all but inevitable when Latham and Conway were cashing in twin 150s after opting to bat in baking conditions.
The mercury was still rising on the second morning, with temperatures in the mid-30s C again forecast. And with Mitchell fresh at the crease alongside the nightwatcher, O’Rourke, New Zealand made a largely circumspect start in the knowledge that another long day in the field for England would only strengthen their hand in this deciding Test.
Mitchell’s lone boundary came when trying to leave Josh Tongue’s first delivery, the ball clipping the under-edge and running away fine. It was O’Rourke who provided the main impetus inside the first hour as he advanced to his highest score in first-class cricket – beating the 17 not out he had made for Canterbury against Otago in March 2023.
It only took him two shots to record a new Test best, squeezing out two off Tongue and then guiding Jofra Archer past the slips for four (possibly while trying to withdraw the bat). A more genuine punch through point followed, as well as a thick edge off Tongue that might have gone to third slip if England had posted one. Another slash wide of gully off Stokes took O’Rourke to 19, and England then fluffed their first chance of a breakthrough as Jamie Smith dived across first slip in pursuit of a thick outside edge, but only managed to fingertip the ball out of Joe Root’s grasp.
Stokes, already a shade of beetroot, threw his arms up in anger but bent himself to the task and extracted Mitchell an over later. Umpire Nitin Menon did not initially grant the appeal as Stokes nipped one past the bat, but UltraEdge detected a feather of an outside edge; Mitchell, however, seemed to think the sound was his bat hitting his front pad as he pushed forward.
O’Rourke was then dismissed after the drinks break, without having added to his score following the drop: Stokes bashing a shorter length and winning reward as the nightwatcher heaved a golf swing only to send a top-edge to point.
Blundell, who made a century on this ground four years ago in the Test that birthed Bazball, snatched some of the momentum back by taking Gus Atkinson for 14 in an over with three fours – two driven and one dabbed to third – to steer New Zealand past 400. But Stokes then chipped out his third of the session, and 250th in Tests, when Santner ducked into a bouncer and ballooned a catch to Jacob Bethell in the gully.
Santner reviewed, gesturing to Stokes that the ball had struck him on the arm guard. But Holdstock, in the TV umpire seat, took barely 30 seconds to examine one front-on replay before concluding that there was also contact with the strap of his glove, and upholding the on-field call.
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at Cricinfo. @alanroderick
