Guerilla Cricket Live Blog
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Hello and welcome to our live blog covering the 2nd day of the third and final test between New Zealand and England!
It was a quite even day yesterday as New Zealand mounted an on par total and England responded with 9 wickets. Mitchell Santner’s heroics in the end were the highlight of the day.
We are all set for today’s action!
If yesterday was an even day, today definitely was not. It was New Zealand’s day all the way through. England’s ship capsized after losing their first wicket, almost as if it was a catalyst. The bowling received a bashing as well as New Zealand did not resort to giving them a follow on and have piled on runs into their lead. It is the Kiwis’ match to lose from here.
No real night time vigil kept by O’Rourke here as he nicks one to Pope off Stokes! A late pick up for the visitors here, brilliant from Stokes.
Stokes strikes! Captain leading with example here as Young falls for the set up. Bethell takes the catch at deep mid wicket. The batsman will be frustrated with the manner of losing the wicket. Not the best time lose a wicket as well.
That brings up the 100 for New Zealand. They have batter sensibly and ably on this pitch. Young is on 49 and Williamson is on 31. The match seems to be getting away from the Three Lions as of now.
Young who was not a part of the playing 11 in the first two tests has look really strong in both the innings he has played. He is joined by the ever calm Williamson who will bat as long as he will want to.
Bowled! Atkinson to Latham, chopped it onto the stumps. He will feel hard done by there. We have seen a quite a few chopped on dismissals in this match. That’s the first one for England and they will need some more today.
Seven overs in Young and Latham both look settled and have been scoring at a good rate. There were a couple of maiden overs after the flurry of runs scored in the beginning. England seem to have hit a wall in terms of form in this test.
That is 9 off the first over for England. Not a great start and that should be worrying. Young with most of the runs in that over.
Henry puts the final nail in the coffin! What a comeback from New Zealand! They were under the pump until the first wicket fell and after that England could not stitch a worthwhile partnership together at all. Brook’s golden duck was the highlight of the innings. Henry tops the bowling charts with a 4-fer.
That leaves England trailing by a massive 204 runs. Maybe a follow on in on the cards?
Caught and bowled! Carse tries to step out for a drive but Santner takes a smart catch.
Henry with his third! Atkinson is the victim this time. Straight to mid on! Santner makes no mistake. That is England’s batting hopes down the drain.
Santner has his second! He traps the leftie leg before wicket and the skipper reviews it. The ball would have gone on to hit the leg stump. England in deep trouble now.
The first wicket taken by a spinner in this match! Santner gets Pope, caught by Mitchell. Some grip on display there as well.
The English skipper and wicketkeeper have stopped the bleeding and have stitched a good partnership together. They are not out of the woods yet but they will look to keep batting this way.
Root gone! O’Rourke is absolutely on fire right now. Will Young at gully takes the catch as Root tried to cut O’Rourke. That’s Bethell, Brook and Root gone in an instant for England.
O’Rourke is on a hat trick! England’s talisman and leading run scorer is gone for a golden duck! Played onto his leg stump as he looked to defend the ball from the bowler. New Zealand are on top now!
That is absolutely beautiful from Phillips. These catches have been become his trademark now! O’Rourke with the wicket.
Joe Root has taken the mantle of scoring the quick runs as Bethell settles in a more passive role. He has just scored three boundaries in one over against O’Rourke.
An entertaining session this morning. Mostly England’s up till now. Tim Southee has been a bit disappointing till now. Henry has been a bright spark, getting both openers out.
Henry again! What an over this is from him. The classic inswinger to a leftie and Duckett is left bamboozled! Suddenly, England have two new batters at the crease.
Crawley departs! Not sure what to make of this innings from him. What we can say surely is that Matt Henry has caught an absolute beauty off his own bowling. Cramps Crawley for space, the ball takes the leading edge and it bobs up in the air. Henry dives and completes the catch to open the wicket count for New Zealand.
England have raced off the blocks! 32 in 4 overs with Crawley hitting 4 fours off Tim Southee (eesh).
Potts does the magic! Hits Santner’s off stump and that brings the curtains on the New Zealand innings. England were made to sweat for that last wicket. Santner justified his selection in the side with this fighting innings. Potts finishes with 4 wickets, a good display from him.
After a close vigil of 24 deliveries, O’Rourke finally gets off the mark! He has done the job up till now, providing ample support to Santner at the other end.
Atkinson with a ripper and O’Rourke looks to defend it. The ball passes closely to the edge and England’s appeal is awarded with the umpire’s finger. New Zealand review it instantly and it caught the O’Rourke’s thigh pad! Close shave for the seamer…
