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Stumps: New Zealand lead by 340 runs
Spoiler alert: New Zealand are going to win the third Test. They took complete control on an eventful second day in Hamilton, skittling England for 143 inside 36 overs. It was a bad day for England, who were too passive with the ball in the morning and probably too skittish with the bat. That said, the key passage of play was a devastating spell of fast bowling from Will O’Rourke, who took care of Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook and Joe Root in the space of eight balls.
Will Young (60) and Kane Williamson (50*) rammed home New Zealand’s advantage with some stylish and ruthless batting. Only the apocalypse can save England from here.
Key event
32nd over: New Zealand 136-3 (Williamson 50, Ravindra 1) In a shock development, Kane Williamson has made a half-century. This one took only 58 balls and was brought up by a pull round the corner for a single off Stokes. The numbers don’t necessarily show it but he’s played beautifully in this series and probably deserves a century. He’ll be back tomorrow aiming to achieve precisely that.
31st over: New Zealand 133-3 (Williamson 48, Ravindra 1) The arrival of Ravindra means Bashir has a left-hander to bowl at. That’s another thing in his favour for the Ashes. At the moment Australia’s best XI includes five left-handers in Khawaja, Head, Carey, Starc and Hazlewood, a not insignificant detail.
Ravindra gets as far forward as possible to smother the spin and is happy to play out a maiden. Time for one last over.
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30th over: New Zealand 133-3 (Williamson 48, Ravindra 1) Rachin Ravindra doesn’t bother with a second nightwatchman. He comes in at No5 and pulls his first ball round the corner for a single. That allows Williamson to take strike and time another off drive for four. Just gorgeous. As a batter and a human being, he’s the dictionary definition of class.
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WICKET! New Zealand 128-3 (O'Rourke c Pope b Stokes 0)
Ben Stokes picks up the nightwatchman Will O’Rourke for a duck. It was an excellent delivery, immaculate in both line and length, and O’Rourke edged a defensive prod through to Ollie Pope.
Stokes’ bowling has been the big plus for England in this game. It hasn’t been perfect but it’s a long time since he’s been able to bowl 33 overs in a Test. Two and a half years, to be exact.
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29th over: New Zealand 128-2 (Williamson 44, O’Rourke 0) Williamson drives another elegant boundary off Bashir. When does Bashir’s form, and particularly his accuracy, become a problem for England? I think he deserves to start next summer but England need to be clear on their contingency plan, particularly for Australia, whether it’s Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Liam Dawson, Jack Leach or even playing five seamers.
28th over: New Zealand 124-2 (Williamson 40, O’Rourke 0) O’Rourke’s dead, dead bat takes care of the remainder of that Stokes over.
WICKET! New Zealand 124-2 (Young c Bethell b Stokes 60)
Will Young has given it away. He pulled Stokes straight to deepish midwicket, where Jacob Bethell took a decent catch as he fell backwards. Young trudges off – and it really is a trudge – to replaced by the nightwatch Will O’Rourke.
27th over: New Zealand 124-1 (Young 60, Williamson 40) A quiet over from Bashir to Williamson. Talking of quiet, Williamson has reached 40 from 47 balls almost unnoticed. There’s always something nice about watching classical go at close to a run a ball without playing anything resembling a big shot.
26th over: New Zealand 122-1 (Young 60, Williamson 38) Williamson guides Stokes through point for his sixth boundary. The lead is now 326 and there’s no way back, not even for England’s intrepid Bazballers.
25th over: New Zealand 115-1 (Young 59, Williamson 32) Young whirls a reverse sweep for four off Bashir, a slightly risky shot given the extra bounce but one he played really well. It’s the start of an expensive over that includes four byes down the leg side and then a long hop that Young pulls for four.
It feels like Bashir is less accurate now than he was in India at the start of the year. Maybe there’s some mental fatigue involved; this is his 15th Test of 2024, which is extraordinary for a kid who had barely played first-class cricket a year ago.
24th over: New Zealand 102-1 (Young 51, Williamson 31) Young threads Stokes, who has changed ends to replace Carse, for a couple to reach a stylish half-century from 72 balls. He’s reached fifty 10 times in 20 Tests without reaching three figures. This is a helluva chance to do so against a weary England attack who know the game is up.
In Brisbane, the wonderful Travis Head has made another hundred against India. It’s his fourth in 18 months, all in huge games: the World Test Championship final, the World Cup final and now the second and third Tests of this enormous series.
23rd over: New Zealand 100-1 (Young 49, Williamson 31) And now for something completely different: after 119.1 overs of seam across both New Zealand innings, Shoaib Bashir is coming on to bowl for the first time in the match. Young sweeps his first ball for four, then survives a big LBW appeal from the second. Height was an issue and Ben Stokes decides not to review. I’m no sure about tha- ah, replays show there was the thinnest inside edge so we can forget everything else. Stokes does have a great instinct for when not to review.
22nd over: New Zealand 93-1 (Young 43, Williamson 30) Williamson cuts Carse for four to continue New Zealand’s serene progress. When England return to the ground in the morning, their bowlers will be entering a world of pain: they’re almost 300 runs behind and New Zealand can bat for as long as they like.
21st over: New Zealand 85-1 (Young 42, Williamson 23) Young hits Stokes for successive boundaries, a seriously handsome extra-cover drive followed by a deliberate uppercut with both feet off the ground.
“I’m three hours ahead of UK, so woke just as England’s last wicket fell,” says Felix Wood. “Winning toss and bowling always looks hubristic, and now England’s bowlers are back out again after each bowling twenty overs in the first innings. Seems an unnecessary risk to me given how many quicks we lose to injury. Was the England batting unlucky, loose or the usual end of term-y feeling? On bowlers, Potts has heart but I feel lacks a yard of pace. But mainly I’m writing in to say I had ‘I like Matt Potts and I cannot lie’ stuck in my head all day yesterday, and now it’s stuck in yours too. You’re welcome.”
I don’t think it was hubris, England have just been outplayed. The batting was definitely skittish, but it took a brutal spell of fast bowling from Will O’Rourke to blow England off course.
As for your little ditty, I have no idea what song you’ve mangled adapted so there’s nothing stuck in my head, just a lot of fresh air.
20th over: New Zealand 77-1 (Young 34, Williamson 23) Carse overpitches fractionally to Williamson, if that, and is rifled straight for four. This has been a slightly odd series for Williamson: he’s got starts in five of the six innings, looked in superb touch throughout, yet he hasn’t made a century. Maybe this is the innings.
Carse has bowled well (5-1-13-0) without quite justifying my frankly premature Will O’Rourke comparisons in the 16th over.
19th over: New Zealand 73-1 (Young 34, Williamson 19) Stokes, a touch too straight, is picked off for three leg-side singles from successive deliveries. He gets it right thereafter and Young defends.
18th over: New Zealand 70-1 (Young 33, Williamson 17) A short ball from Carse doesn’t get up and is dragged for a single to Williamson, who grimaces as if he’s been hit in the chest – presumably because he thought he was about to be.
The rest of the over passes without incident. Just over an hour’s play remaining.
17th over: New Zealand 66-1 (Young 30, Williamson 16) Stokes tries a very full inswinger to Williamson, who chips it confidently over short extra for four. It wasn’t a million miles from the fielder but Williamson had it under control.
New Zealand lead by 270.
16th over: New Zealand 59-1 (Young 29, Williamson 10) The moment I type that about England looking good in the field, Young gets a couple of overthrows when nobody backs up Bethell’s throw.
Oof. The last ball of Carse’s third over is a malevolent lifter that hits Williamson on the bottom glove. If Carse gets one he could run through the middle order, just as Will O’Rourke did earlier in the day. First, it’s time for drinks.
15th over: New Zealand 55-1 (Young 26, Williamson 9) England were sloppy with the bat but their attitude in the field has been good; if you descended from Mars you’d think the game was in the balance.
But it’s not, because New Zealand are already 259 runs ahead. Young takes Stokes for a couple of boundaries, a tickle to fine leg and an excellent drive through mid-off.
14th over: New Zealand 47-1 (Young 18, Williamson 9) By his standards, Carse was a bit loose in the first innings. He has started well today, nailing his length, and on this pitch he has the tools to make life really uncomfortable. Williamson is beaten by a lovely delivery, then grimaces slightly after being pinned by a nipbacker. An excellent maiden over.
13th over: New Zealand 47-1 (Young 18, Williamson 9) I thought Shoaib Bashir might be used as second change but Ben Stokes has brought himself on to replace Potts. A canny wide yorker is squeezed past leg stump by Young, who has slowed down after a fast start to the innings: 15 from 21 balls then 3 from the next 15.
12th over: New Zealand 45-1 (Young 17, Williamson 8) Brydon Carse replaces Gus Atkinson, who bowled a useful spell of 5-2-10-1. Young survives a run-out chance when Stokes’ oddly ungainly throw from extra cover misses the stumps. That’s all there is to report.
Meanwhile, in Brisbane, Travis Head is once again being Travis Head. If you haven’t read it there’s a quite brilliant interview with Head in this month’s Wisden Cricket Monthly; I can’t remember the last time I read or heard a current great go into such detail about their batting.
11th over: New Zealand 44-1 (Young 16, Williamson 8) The wicket allows Potts to resume his intriguing battle with Kane Williamson, who he dismissed for the fourth time in the first innings.
He threatens to make it five when Williamson edges through the slips for four to get off the mark. The way Williamson snapped his head round suggested he was worried about being caught, but in fact his Fairy Liquid hands dropped the ball well short of the diving Brook.
A classy and entirely deliberate late cut brings Williamson four more to the same part of the ground.
10th over: New Zealand 35-1 (Young 15, Williamson 0) Latham ends the series with 171 runs at 28.50, which is below par but not too bad in what has been a lowish-scoring series. So far only Harry Brook and Kane Williamson have reached 200 runs.
WICKET! New Zealand 35-1 (Latham b Atkinson 19)
Latham drags a shortish delivery from Atkinson back onto the stumps to end a promising but all too brief innings of 19. The fightback starts here.
Updated
9th over: New Zealand 31-0 (Latham 15, Young 15) For some reason the internet seems to get haywire at around 3.45am, so I’ve spent the last five minutes trying to fix it. You didn’t miss much, just another maiden from Potts. England have established some control with the ball, which is good, although a deficit of 235 is a bridge that’ll need crossing at some stage.
8th over: New Zealand 31-0 (Latham 15, Young 15)
7th over: New Zealand 29-0 (Latham 13, Young 15) Latham thick edges Potts through the cordon for four. Potts hits his knees after slipping in his delivery stride, a cheap and easy visual metaphor for England’s position in this match.
Potts’ dumb luck continues when another edge from Latham drops short of second slip and scuttles under Root for two more runs. New Zealand lead by 233.
6th over: New Zealand 18-0 (Latham 5, Young 12) You have to feel for Potts and Atkinson, who bowled those weird statemate overs this morning and are now back at the altar of hard yakka after only 35.4 overs. Given the turn that Santner found, Shoaib Bashir is likely to do a lot of work in this innings.
For now the seamers are bowling pretty well and Atkinson has just made it three consecutive maidens.
5th over: New Zealand 18-0 (Latham 5, Young 12) Another maiden, this time from Potts to Latham, including an edge that bounces short of second slip.
4th over: New Zealand 18-0 (Latham 5, Young 12) That’s a good over from Atkinson, the first maiden of the innings.
“I’m pleased to say I slept through the entire England innings,” says Kim Thonger. “By no means the first time it’s happened. I think I can solve the No3 problem. The management need to hire Paul McKenna as team hypnotist to take Pope to one side at the start of each innings and hypnotise him into believing he’s batting at 6. They’ve tried wackier ideas.”
Fun fact: Paul McKenna played a key role in Robin Smith’s recovery after Ian Bishop broke his cheekbone in 1995. For the only time in his career, The Judge found himself flinching against the short ball. McKenna put him under and he was fine for the tour of South Africa that winter.
REVIEW! New Zealand 18-0 (Young not out 12)
Will Young reviews successfully after being given out LBW. He played around his front pad at a lovely nipbacker from Atkinson that hit him on the kneeroll. I thought it was out, Young thought it was missing leg stump. Guess who was right.
3rd over: New Zealand 18-0 (Latham 5, Young 12) Young smokes a pull for four off Potts, a statement of dominance as well as a fine shot in itself. The lead is already 222.
2nd over: New Zealand 13-0 (Latham 5, Young 7) Latham drives Atkinson sweetly through mid-on for four, holding the pose at the end of his follow through. England pulled off some amazing comebacks in the first summer of Bazball, most notably at Edgbaston when India were effectively 285 for 3 in their second innings and were still hammered by seven wickets. Here, in truth, they look a beaten team.
“I am in Hamilton, having been to Christchurch and Wellington, as well as five Tests in India and three in Pakistan this year,” write Neil Waterfield. “I am ready to go home. I was ready after Wellington. If the players have five per cent of that sentiment (even subconsciously), it could explain the performance? An explanation, not an excuse.”
Oh absolutely. It’s not ideal but they’re human beings and we all know what that means: imperbloodyfection. This is England’s 17th Test of the year; I think only India in 1983 have played more. They don’t get a free pass but they do deserve plenty of empathy.
1st over: New Zealand 9-0 (Latham 1, Young 7) Not a great start from England, with Young getting four thanks to a misjudgement by the sliding Bashir at fine leg. Potts then has a big LBW appeal against Latham turned down; Ben Stokes isn’t interested in a review.
“Now…” says Paul Cockburn. “Go back in time and use the benefit of hindsight. Should Santner have played from the start?”
That’s a ticklishly good question, especially at 3.10am. My instinct is no, because the pitches in the first two games did plenty for the seamers and Nathan Smith could easily have had a debut five-for. Then again, England can’t score a run against spin at the moment.
New Zealand are batting again. They will effectively start their innings on 204 for 0; Matt Potts is about to bowl to Tom Latham.
“Hi Rob,” says Brian Withington. “Can the OBO propose that either side should be able to enforce the follow-on? Seconded.
“PS Tell Tom that daytime life is overrated.”
“Just as the England football team has a glut of right backs and barely any on the left, do the cricket boys have a load of middle order batters yet no natural No3?” wonders Max Williams. “Pope clearly more comfortable down the order. And is this a byproduct of the Bazball mentality? Seems unlikely Jonathan Trott would excel in this team - although he probably wouldn’t have been picked in the first place.”
It predates Stokes and McCullum so I’m not sure it’s a byproduct of their approach. The last natural, vaguely successful No3 was Joe Denly; before that it’s probably Gary Ballance before he was found out. I know some of the Wisden Cricket Monthly would have Jamie Smith at No3, or even opening, with with Pope taking the gloves at No6. Smith definitely has the technique and gearstick needed to bat No3, but it would involve a lot of tinkering and you just never know how anyone will deal with the pressure of such a pivotal position. History will be kind to Pope I reckon.
“Spoiled for choice here in North Carolina,” writes Chris Pockney. “Hopping back and forth between this match and the Gabba. Gladiator just came on the TV and as I made an early start on the Christmas port, Maximus uttered the immortal words ‘on my command unleash hell’ and Bumrah ran in to bowl. The simulation just trolling us!”
Tea
New Zealand lead by 204 runs and can enforce the follow on if they want to. It’s hard to see that happening. Matt Henry finishes with 4 for 48 and Mitchell Santner 3 for 7 – but the real star was Will O’Rourke, who flattened England’s celebrated middle order in a spell of nasty, ruthless but also intelligent fast bowling. O’Rourke’s figures of 8-2-33-3, though excellent, don’t convey just how good he was.
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WICKET! England 143 all out (Potts c Phillips b Henry 1)
Tea’s up! Potts slices Henry high in the air on the off side, and Phillips runs back from point to take a beautifully judged catch.
35th over: England 143-9 (Potts 1, Bashir 1) The ball has turned for Santner, particularly the one that got Pope, but really this has been another end-of-term batting performance from England. Ben Stokes’ 43-ball stay is the longest of the innings; even Will O’Rourke survived 30 balls this morning.
With England nine down, the tea break will be delayed until the end of the innings. I don’t think anyone will be feeling any hunger pangs.
WICKET! England 141-9 (Carse ct and b Santner 1)
Bump ball my derriere: Carse’s bat scuffed the ground but he chipped the ball straight back to Santner! This is crazy: Mitch Santner has taken 3 for 5!
Carse gives a simple return catch to Santner, but nobody is sure whether it was a bump ball or not. The third umpire will reveal all any second now.
34th over: England 141-8 (Atkinson 1, Carse 0) England aren’t actually past the follow-on target yet, though I can’t see New Zealand enforcing it. England need to reach 148 to take it off the table.
“Recovered from the wisdom tooth pain, but my sleep pattern has been destroyed by so much great overnight cricket…” says Tom Bancroft. “Need to get a grip… Daytime life is falling apart.”
Tell me about it. I was talking to Yas Rana (host of the brilliant series of Wisden podcasts) about this the other day, trying to work out the best system. I’ve had no routine at all, just sleeping and waking and eating like an oaf. It’s been a slog.
WICKET! England 141-8 (Atkinson c Santner b Henry 4)
England are having a bit of a stinker I’m afraid. Atkinson chips Henry tamely to mid-on, where Santner staggers in to take a deceptively good low catch. Runs, wickets and now a catch: Santner’s selection could barely have gone any better.
33rd over: England 137-7 (Atkinson 1, Carse 0) Santner has a huge LBW appeal against Carse turned down on height. The umpire Ahsan Raza thought about that for quite a while but I think he made the right decision.
Before that Pune Test, Santner had taken 54 Test wickets at an average of 42, spread across nine years of red-ball anonymity. Since then – and yes I know it’s an extremely small sample size but it’s my sample size and I’ll do with as I please – he’s picked up 15 more at 11 apiece. Nobody saw that coming, not even Quasimodo.
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WICKET! England 137-7 (Stokes LBW b Santner 27)
Another wicket for Mitchellitharan! Stokes launches into a lusty sweep, misses and is hit just below the knee roll. That’s plumb. He reviews just in case the technology has a funny turn; it doesn’t. Three reds and Stokes has gone.
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32nd over: England 137-6 (Stokes 27, Atkinson 1) Three singles from Henry’s over, one of which leads to a precautionary referral against Stokes. He’s fine.
“Oh yes, we’re here all right,” says John Starbuck. “Keep going, despite the lack of witty repartee.”
I’m doing my best John!
31st over: England 134-6 (Stokes 25, Atkinson 0) New Zealand lead by 213 runs. That, I’m here to tell you, is a lot of runs.
WICKET! England 134-6 (Pope c Mitchell b Santner 24)
After 127.1 overs, it’s time for the first spin of the match (unless you count Matt Potts’ back-of-the-hand slower ball). Mitchell Santner, who took 13 wickets against India in Pune on his last Test appearance, is on for Southee.
Stokes makes a pretty unambiguous statement of intent by pinging a reverse sweep for four off the first ball. That also brings up an impressively assured fifty partnership from 74 balls.
A partnership, alas, that comes to an abrupt end four balls later when Pope is surprised by some extra bounce and jabs to slip. It was good bowling rather than a poor shot, although Pope’s wrists were on the stiff side. Whatever the reason, England are in doodoo country.
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30th over: England 129-5 (Pope 24, Stokes 20) Stokes almost drags Henry onto the stumps, then takes one on the thigh after charging down the pitch. Henry saw him coming and rammed the ball in. A fine over ends with a shortish delivery that Stokes fences short of the slips and then through for a single.
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29th over: England 128-5 (Pope 24, Stokes 19) Stokes plays a shot of absurd quality, lazily flicking a big Southee inswinger between midwicket and mid-on for four. He’s only on 19, and I’ll look a right plonker if he slogs one up in the air, but Stokes’ strokeplay hasn’t looked this clean in quite a while.
28th over: England 122-5 (Pope 23, Stokes 14) Henry replaces O’Rourke after a bat-jarring spell of 8-2-33-3. Stokes gives him the charge but doesn’t beat mid-off; then Pope flicks in the air but well short of mid-on.
There’s still loads for England to do but so far this has been a good, unruffled partnership.
Meanwhile, in Brisbane, Steve Smith is scrapping and Travis Head is counter-attacking towards the end of a compelling morning session. You can follow that with Angus Fontaine.
27th over: England 120-5 (Pope 22, Stokes 13) There’s been nothing frenetic about Pope’s start today. The only F-word being used is ‘four’, and he gets his fifth with a beautiful, relaxed straight drive off Southee. He has 22 from 37 balls, Stokes 13 from 22.
26th over: England 116-5 (Pope 18, Stokes 13) O’Rourke keeps going, into his eighth over, but maybe it’s one too many. Stokes drives and clips successive boundaries, two high-class strokes that take him into double figures.
Mind you, O’Rourke’s issue was line rather than pace, which is still up around 90mph. Later in the over Stokes pulls his hand off the bta in surprise when a length ball rears at him. Deliveries like that must make O’Rourke so unpleasant to face. And the rest. He looks so good.
25th over: England 108-5 (Pope 18, Stokes 5) Pope chased a really wide outswinger from Southee and clumps it to the cover boundary. He continues to look really good at No6 and, though I’m fairly sure he’ll return to No3 at the start of next summer, he has made it a bit more complicated with the quality of his batting and keeping in this series.
24th over: England 104-5 (Pope 14, Stokes 5) Thanks Tanya, hello everyone. How good is this? Will O’Rourke came into this match averaging around 50 in the series, even though he has bowled marvellously at times. He got his just deserts when he flattened England’s middle order in the space of eight balls, dismissing Bethell, Brook and Root.
It’s been a brutish spell of bowling from O’Rourke, whose rare combination of pace, height and awkward angles that evokes Steve Harmison in his 2004 pomp. Even now, in the seventh over of his spell, he is hitting 90mph. Stokes, who was dealt with emphatically by O’Rourke in the second Test, gets solidly in line and then fences an errant delivery down the leg side for four.
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23rd over: England 100-5 (Pope 14, Stokes 1) Pope almost falls for the tempting sweetie from Southee, fat and juicy, but just misses getting bat on ball. And after that thrilling post-lunch hour, I am handing over to Rob Smyth who will guide you through the night. Thanks for all your messages – bye!
22nd over: England 99-5 (Pope 14, Stokes 0) Pope uppercuts, a vicious waft that flies up and just short of six. A fascinating over follows – a hot potato of a bouncer that leaves Pope wide-mouthed in almost-admiration. Then a riposte of an on drive before Pope is spatchcocked as leans back to cut and the ball falls fingernails short of Will Young at backward point.
“Morning Tanya.” Hello Brian Withington!
”I deliberately started my review of the day’s events from the preamble without checking any scores, and had fairly safely reached 70 odd for 2 when I pressed refresh at the beginning of that O’Rourke over ...
”Not that we believe in jinxing in these parts, but I shan’t do that again in a hurry.”
21st over: England 90-5 (Pope 5, Stokes 0) Southee, arms like pistons, races in. He drifts onto the pads and Pope with relief sends him to the square leg boundary.
20th over: England 86-5 (Pope 1, Stokes 0) Four slips knit. O’Rourke to Stokes. A maiden.
“Hi Tanya,” Hello again Ian.
”I feel “sniffs” was a little harsh, though as it’s the middle of December and I live in north Manchester it’s technically accurate, I do have a cold.
Basically I was riffing on “commentators curse”, you actually got what you asked for, but in the minimal possible way. Isn’t cricket wonderful?”
I withdraw my sniffs – would a muses do? Sending a hello from the other side of town. And yes to wonderful. Also throwing in – as the last hour has shown – a sometimes totally unexpected.
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19th over: England 86-5 (Pope 1, Stokes 0) O’Rourke got nine here against South Africa on Test debut. England get a brief breather from a Southee over which brings four legbyes.
WICKET! Root c Young b O'Rourke 32 (England 82-5)
O’Rourke! He swings one in which fires towards Root’s guts, he cuts but is suddenly cramped and can only give an easy catch to Young. England’s wall is crumbling.
18th over: England 82-5 (Pope 1) O’Rourke on a hat-trick…Pope darts at a legside ball and there’s a huge appeal but no go. Ooof, Pope sets off for a crazy single, which would have left Root scrambling if it had hit. And now O’Rourke gets the big one.
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17th over: England 81-4 (Root 32, Pope 0) Root nonchalantly straight drives four off Henry as if all is calm, all is bright
16th over: England 77-4 (Root 28, Pope 0) They were just discussing on comms how O’Rourke was finding his line easier against the left handed Bethell when he succumbed. And the ball to Brook was perfection, a 93mph inswinger to a brand new batter.
WICKET! Brook b O'Rourke 0 (England 77-4)
First ball! O’ Rourke angles the ball in and Brook slices an edge onto his stumps. Looks back in total surprise to see bails on the grass.
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WICKET! Bethell c Phillips b O'Rourke 12 (England 77-3)
Like a jumping jackrabbit! Bethell finally runs out of discipline, drives on the up and is snaffled by gully in mid-air.
15th over: England 73-2 (Bethell 8, Root 28) A maiden from the immaculate Henry to Root. Meanwhile in Brisbane, Australia have lost a couple of wickets and Labuschagne and Smith are rebuilding. Follow with Angus Fontaine here:
14th over: England 73-2 (Bethell 8, Root 28) O'Rourke’s line a little wayward to Root, who picks up a couple of early fours with a pull and a clip off the legs. He finishes with four wild byes to make it 13 from the over.
13th over: England 64-2 (Bethell 8, Root 20) Henry is on the prowl. Working on Root, who won’t let himself be subdued and steals a single.
12th over: England 59-2 (Bethell 8, Root 19) O’Rourke replaces Southee, and engineers something nasty, brutish and short which flies towards Bethell’s head, hitting high glove, forcing him to jerk his body backwards. A fierce maiden.
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Afternoon session
11th over: England 59-2 (Bethell 8, Root 19) Henry continues after lunch. On comms, Katey Martin says that he has started bowling a lot fuller over the last couple of years. and indeed he largely does here. Beats Root with a shorter ball, then Root nudges a marginally straighter one down to the rope. Henry clasps his chin and mutters through suncreamed lips.
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There’s a lovely documentary on Rachin Ravindara showing during the lunch break. Back at Seddon Park, the grassy banks mill with activity. I’m pushing through with salted nuts
Hello Philip Morton in Berkeley!
“This refugee from England thanks you and the Guardian for the OBO. I particularly appreciate the description of culinary adventures.
“It’s cold and wet here in California, but still daylight. If you can find someone who knows how to write, lives here, and can get a video feed you and Rob might actually not have to burn the midnight oil.”
A great idea in theory, but the downside is we wouldn’t get paid…
And here come the players.
“I’d hazard a guess that the whole of your street is glad the Barmy Army trumpeter isn’t with you on your sofa, but you and the Guardian team are all virtuosos on the obo(e). "
Very good Andrew Benton.
“Why do England persist with Crawley? Actually, I’d love to see Stokes opening the batting, he could really lead from the front there, set out his stall at the beginning of an innings, an in-you-face challenge to the bowlers.”
I think this team can afford the on-off expense of Crawley, that’s the ginger.
Ish Sodhi is walking and talking around Seddon Park. “You saw the ball still nipping around a bit, I think it was a leg break against Ben Duckett, and a fantastic catch by Henry, 33 years young. Crawley can take the game away from you so good to get him early. England already scoring 5 runs an over, I think New Zealand bowling those aggressive lengths gives them a chance of quick scoring.”
Time for me to grab a late-night snack and a coffee. Back soon.
Lunch - England 54-2 trail by 293 runs
10th over: England 54-2 (Bethell 7, Root 15) Bethell picks up four through the covers, handsomely, but is tied down by Southee for the remainder of the over and that’s lunch!
9th over: England 49-2 (Bethell 2, Root 15) Henry with his last over before lunch – time for just one more from Southee I think. That Crawley dismissal continues Henry’s freakish hold over him in this series:
Matt Henry must be giving Zak Crawley nightmares 😱 pic.twitter.com/MAhlaQuyVC
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) December 14, 2024
8th over: England 45-2 (Bethell 2, Root 11) Root gently accumulates as little clouds like bites of candy floss watch in the cornflower sky.
An email drops entitled Crawley and 21. “Blaming you for that Tanya.” sniffs Ian
”Poor sod did what you asked and look where it lead.
Ah well, bit more wine and then bedtime here.”
He looked so good too…
7th over: England 41-2 (Bethell 1, Root 8) Henry passes shiny red ball past Root’s bat, with seam posing for applause. Next ball, Root turns one behind into the grassy expanse for four. A second four clipped through square leg. Easy does it.
6th over: England 33-2 (Bethell 1, Root 0)A morale-boosting maiden for Southee – New Zealand angling for one more with just over ten minutes till lunch.
WICKET! Duckett lbw Henry 11 (England 33-2)
And a second in the over! From a good length Duckett hit on the back leg bang on middle stump, honed in like a guided missile. Henry celebrates, Duckett turns on his heel.
5th over: England 33-2 (Bethell 1)
Updated
WICKET! Crawley c and b Henry 21 (England 32-1)
Astonishing! Crawley gets a leading edge and Henry, after a moment’s hesitation, resets his momentum and runs, dives, and scoops the ball up off the turf. Crawley reviews, it looks unclear to me but the third umpire gives it out immediately.
Updated
4th over: England 31-0 (Crawley 21, Duckett 10) Southee has to throw himself immediately back in the fire, but this time has the upper hand, hemming Crawley in.
3rd over: England 30-0 (Crawley 21, Duckett 9) Duckett picks two twos off Henry. And then Crawley gets a lucky boundary off the outside edge to take him to his highest score of the series.
2nd over: England 22-0 (Crawley 17, Duckett 4) Tim Southee from the Tim Southee end, in the last game of his career. Crawley, ever the party-pooper, creams two perfect cover drives, a slightly more ungainly on-drive, and easy-dreamy straight drive, for four fours.
England's first innings
1st over: England 5-0 (Crawley 1, Duckett 4) Can Zac Crawley cross the 20 threshold this series? He gets off the mark with an inside edge together with sharp turn of the head to check nothing untoward is going on behind. That (apparently) is his first run off Matt Henry for the series.
Henry’s second ball is a pearler that darts past Duckett’s inside edge. Ooof, and another. Then Duckett plays a recklessly risky shot that sees ball fly off the bottom of bat past a diving slip. Then another beauty from Henry.
“Tanya. Wait ‘till your kids’ youth is history #Pokemon #TheIronGiant #BarbieGirl.” I don’t feel that reassured Gary Naylor. My youngest already teases the older two that they were born pre-iphone (the shame).
On comes the heavy roller, off comes Mitchell Santner – a most frustrating thorn in England’s side. His partnership of 26 with Henry and 38 with O’Rourke all added up to a whole lot of teeth gnashing.
And here come England.
WICKET! Santner b Potts 76 (New Zealand 347 all out)
97.1 overs: New Zealand 347 all out (O’ Rourke 5) First ball after drinks! Potts gets his reward for whole-hearted effort with a fourth wicket that clatters into the top of Santner’s off stump. Off they all trudge – honours even, but England the more frustrated.
97th over: New Zealand 347-9 (Santner 76, O’ Rourke 5) Ben Stokes, marching with bristling intent, brings himself on for his first over of the day, and 24th of the match. He throws himself into his action with such vigour you half expect to end up with his face in the dirt. Santner eyes up the inswinger and punches down the ground for four past a diving Atkinson. A peachy last ball nearly does for O’Rourke.
Stokes puts his head in his hands and they take DRINKS.
96th over: New Zealand 342-9 (Santner 71, O’ Rourke 5) A couple of leg byes drift past.
95th over: New Zealand 341-9 (Santner 71, O’ Rourke 5) And now O’Rourke picks up a boundary, turning a wider ball from Atkinson past the diving Pope. O’Rourke smiles; Atkinson, who is going pink on the forehead, doesn’t. Did I mention it was hot out there?
“It’s never been a favourite of mine, Tanya, but Last Christmas Unwrapped was strangely moving I felt,” taps Simon McMahon. “40 years ago, though. I mean, 40 years! Jimmy Anderson was two years old, and David Gower was captaining England to a 5-0 series defeat at home to West Indies.”
It is so strange how your youth suddenly becomes history. Where did we agree to that?
94th over: New Zealand 336-9 (Santner 70, O’ Rourke 1) Events! O’Rourke is off the mark to his 25th delivery. He immediately puts his hand on his hip and stands with crossed legged satisfaction at the non-striker’s end. Potts whistles his last ball of the over past the bat.
Updated
93rd over: New Zealand 333-9 (Santner 68, O’ Rourke 0) England plough on, and on. Gus Atkinson fields with his feet and does some keepy-uppies – apparently he was a good schoolboy footballer.
92nd over: New Zealand 332-9 (Santner 67, O’ Rourke 0) One from the over.
“Hi Tanya, My first child was born yesterday, so we’re navigating the first night at home with him.
“At least we’ve got winter test cricket happening so that at least when you’re up in the night with your newborn, you have something to follow/watch. It would be nice if either this match or the Aus vs India would go the full 5 days!
“This is starting to look like it will be a good first innings score, but I do wonder if NZ might regret one of their set batters not going on to make a big score.”
Oh my goodness, what a lovely email to get! Congratulations Matt Yates. Wishing you and your wife and son all the very best. Hope you have some lovely treats to accompany the Test cricket and night feeds.
91st over: New Zealand 331-9 (Santner 66, O’ Rourke 0) That Santner boundary leaves O’Rourke to face an entire over from Atkinson. He briefly loses his integral cool to chase an Atkinson bouncer, but misses. He immediately resets the temperature guage and sees the over out.
90th over: New Zealand 331-9 (Santner 66, O’ Rourke 0) A neat and tidy over from Potts is spoiled by a fruity full toss which Santner edges wide of slip.
89th over: New Zealand 327-9 (Santner 62, O’ Rourke 0) Atkinson hurtles in on his neat trajectory, I imagine him running down a little brick path just the width of his bowling boots. A searing delivery last ball looks like it has Santner caught behind but he reviews immediately and the noise turns out to be from brushing his thigh pad.
88th over: New Zealand 326-9 (Santner 61, O’ Rourke 0) A boundary! Santner shimmies and sweeps at a slower ball from Potts and slips one through the defensive ring to bring up his thousandth run in Test cricket.
Updated
87th over: New Zealand 321-9 (Santner 56, O’ Rourke 0) A loose throw from Jacob Bethell in the deep lets Santner get back for two early in the over. He picks up a third and O’Rourke once more watches the ball and bats it safely down to his boots.
Someone else has chess on the mind. Over to you Guy Hornsby. “Morning Tanya. Another lovely day in Seddon Park. England with the new ball, fielders back, no slips and giving the set batter an easy single of the last ball of an over. Perhaps I’m not the 3-D chess strategist that Stokes is, but can someone explain that to me?
Could it be as simple as a double bluff? Stokes, collar up, beard bushy, moves like he has a cunning plan.
Updated
86th over: New Zealand 318-9 (Santner 53, O’ Rourke 0) This is becoming chess-like. Santner risks a single off the fourth ball this time. O’Rourke drops his wrists and lets Potts drop by.
85th over: New Zealand 317-9 (Santner 52, O’ Rourke 0) Atkinson gets one ball at O’Rourke, who survives a short one which seems to angle awkwardly away off the glove.
84th over: New Zealand 316-9 (Santner 51, O’ Rourke 0) Everyone scatters to the boundary rope for Santner. Potts on the money immediately, bright whites, bright light, strong balls. Strangely, the field doesn’t come in for the final ball, Santner steals a single and the strike.
And hello Kimberley Thonger. “Guten Abend Tanya, from a very merry Munich.
“I feel sure both sides will have been up all night watching Chris McCausland’s remarkable Strictly victory. Well done him.
“I’m reminded of the huge talent of Colin Milburn, of Northamptonshire and England, also with initials CM, who sadly lost most of his sight but battled on. The cricket writer Colin Bateman commented, “he was a clean, natural hitter of the ball who had an infectious zest for the game and life”. Bateman added, “he hit the ball with the strength of a lumberjack and he had the courage of a lion, but he was no Neanderthal clubber”.
“ If anyone has knowledge of Milburn’s dancing abilities I think we should know. My memory of his movement towards the bowler from the crease suggests the quickstep might have been his speciality.”
Morning session
83rd over: New Zealand 315-9 (Santner 50, O’ Rourke 0) Atkinson’s first ball dances down the leg side, the next two whistle past the outside edge. A maiden. Over on the grassy banks, the Barmy Army have high early morning energy, though I’m glad that trumpet isn’t next to me on the sofa.
David Gower is quizzing bowling coach Jimmy Anderson. “Are you,” asks David, “an instinct or a computer coach?”
Jimmy looks bewildered: “instinct, I don’t have a computer.”
He goes on: “It was an interesting wicket. With the cloud cover yesterday morning I thought it did quite a lot, but that got less and less. I thought maybe it dried out and became slower.”
Some Saturday night stattage: Latham and Young’s partnership of 105 was the first hundred partnership of the series.
And the last five overs of Friday went for 11 runs each as Southee and Santner played whoopee.
Finally – in case you missed it – Mark Ramprakash on England’s new young guns.
And a cracking piece on the Gabba, where weather ruined the first day of the crucial third Test between Australia and India.
No cricket yet, so currently watching Last Christmas Unwrapped. Our reporter on the ground says it is currently “cracking the flags” at Seddon Park.
Here is Ali’s report from yesterday:
From a Christmas treed living room, hello! We’re back in Auckland for day two of the final Test – the series in the bag but the game in the balance.
New Zealand enjoyed a great first half to Friday, after Ben Stokes sent them in to pad up after winning the toss. But, as has happened so often this series, England’s pace bowlers got their fingernails under the bottle cap and started to nudge. A wicketless morning had steamed along to 185 for three when Kane Williamson was undone by – in the wonderful words of Ali Martin – his L’Occitane-soft hands.
From there, England picked away effectively until Santner and Southee took New Zealand past 300. There were three wickets each for Potts and Anderson, two for Carse and one for the hard-bowling Stokes.
Reports from Auckland are that it is a scorcher, but if you didn’t swim early you’ve missed high tide till late… Play starts at 10pm GMT, do join me to watch and wish you were there.
