Lunch – New Zealand 348 (Williamson 93, Phillips 58*, Carse 4-64, Bashir 4-69) and 254 (Mitchell 84, Carse 6-42) lead England 499 (Brook 171, Stokes 80, Pope 77, Henry 4-84) by 103 runs
While it lasted, it was a stand that had distant echoes of another notable 10th-wicket stand against England in Christchurch (Nathan Astle’s famous knock of 222 alongside Chris Cairns in 2002), while the retired Tim Southee, who smashed two sixes who were a crowd-pleaser in his 12-run appearance at 10th – he will no doubt remember his own last-wicket stamina on debut at Napier in 2008.
On both occasions, England regained their poise to secure comfortable victories and, given the bright skies and brown surface, it will still take something extraordinary from New Zealand to turn this around now. However, the frustration was evident, not least for England captain Ben Stokes, who suffered a worrying problem while bowling his fifth over of the morning.
New Zealand’s hopes had been slim when they resumed with a four-run lead and only four wickets left standing, but at least they were greeted by clear skies and a 49-over ball – two factors that persuaded Stokes to resort to a immediate short. ball strategy, hoping to provoke a mistake or two with staggered slips and men deep to shoot.
The ploy did not have the intended consequences, particularly for Stokes himself, who shouldered the burden in the first over of the day but paused uncomfortably midway through the fifth. He immediately handed the rest of the game to Gus Atkinson, although he remained on the field until lunchtime.
However, at the time of that setback, New Zealand’s relatively serene progress had already been interrupted in Carse’s own fourth over. Nathan Smith had looked steady throughout his 21 runs, lining up solidly with the short balls while removing consecutive boundaries when Carse strayed further in his opening. However, he had no answer for the first ball of the day that really misbehaved, as he kept a low touch and hit his shin at a rapid pace, to bring out an lbw verdict with leg.
Four balls later, Carse had his second of the morning, and his fifth of the innings, to leave New Zealand deep in the mud at 192 for 8, a lead at the time of just 41. Matt Henry was also beaten by the more complete. length, this time with a quick, swinging delivery that hit him in front of middle and leg. He said goodbye without thinking about making a review.
Tim Southee, in his last series of tests, arrived to a tumultuous applause, and also expectancy, because there was little doubt as to how he would deal with this particular situation. With 93 Test sixes to his name, and a maximum of five innings to mark his century, he came out swinging and duly struck twice in three balls with two heavy hits on Atkinson’s leg side. The same bowler, however, hit him on the helmet with his second ball and ended the fun with his 11th, while Joe Root, at long-on, took a good fall.
With only number 11 Will O’Rourke for company, Mitchell got away with a long shot that Carse couldn’t see in time, having pushed Chris Woakes off his pads to reach his 132-ball half-century. – decided it was time to change pace.
He played a timely turn for four through a good leg in the next over from Woakes, then a solid cut off off Atkinson, and when Shoaib Bashir came into the attack, Mitchell reverse-swept him to a deep third and then He drilled it in the length. off the ropes with a signature throw to the ground.
With a previous score of 2, O’Rourke stayed out of the attack as much as possible, although he surpassed that score in one fell swoop, as he pushed Bashir for three to the edge of the cover boundary. Two more boundaries in the next over from Woakes took the lead to three figures, but Carse returned to finish the job he had started. With his century in sight, Mitchell took a path towards the ground but spotted Woakes at long-off.
Andrew Miller is UK editor for ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
