Lunch England 280 and 82 for 1 (Duckett 39*, Bethell 34*) advantage New Zealand 125 (Atkinson 4-31, Carse 4-46) by 237 runs
Six wickets had fallen in the first hour, taking the total to 21 in three and a half sessions, but England’s second-wicket pair broke their swash to good effect. Boundaries flowed, particularly from Bethell’s bat, as they quickly consolidated England’s controlling position after the loss of Zak Crawley in the second over of the innings.
Crawley hit Tim Southee’s first two balls through the covers, sounding the bugle on an expected England charge having secured a 155-run lead, but was then dismissed by Matt Henry’s second ball, clipped firmly but directly to the middle of the field. His brutal record in the series against Henry reached 19 balls faced, zero runs scored, four timeouts.
Bethell hit Henry for a couple of boundaries to get going, then pulled Nathan Smith’s second delivery for six. Duckett did the same to Henry as England reached 50 in the ninth over, although the breakthrough single fell as a loose catch as Blundell failed to hold on to Duckett’s fine edge down the leg side.
Bethell then headed down through the cordon before bowling Smith back into the crowd, and Southee was welcomed back into the attack with another pair of boundaries as England reached lunch in imposing form.
New Zealand resumed their innings with Tom Blundell batting alongside nightwatchman Will O’Rourke. Blundell set up nicely for 12 balls, nudging Carse for the first boundary of the day, but was removed on the 13th he had faced, and Carse produced a beauty to finish. He had his fourth two balls later, when O’Rourke leaned forward hopefully and took a hit just in front of mid-on.
Smith briefly suggested it could be a counter-attack from New Zealand’s lower order, timing Carse down the ground to lift three figures before following up with a thoroughbred cut over midwicket for six.
Glenn Phillips added three quick boundaries and Smith then drilled Atkinson through the covers as the stand reached 29 with more than a run a ball. But Atkinson found an extra bounce on a tight line to beat Smith, who leaned on his stumps as he tried to go.
The end of the innings was quick as Atkinson made Henry defend a chest-high bumper into the gully and then deceived Southee by pushing the field back and then going straight towards the stumps. Southee reviewed with a sad look, tracking the ball confirming it would have hit middle and leg, and Atkinson walked away as the first Englishman to take a Test hat-trick since Moeen Ali at The Oval in 2017.
