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Harry Brook and Ollie Pope save England after New Zealand's bowlers shine
Harry Brook and Ollie Pope save England after New Zealand's bowlers shine
New Zealand's first innings had been wrapped up for 348, after adding 29 runs in 40 minutes on Day 2.
Harry Brook and Ollie Pope made a good comeback on a day with two different kinds of weather at Hagley Oval. New Zealand's strong start in the morning was stopped when the sun came out in Christchurch.
By the time of tea, England’s score was 174 for 4, which was exactly half of their opponent's team as theirs was 348 but the constant dropping of the catches made them recover. But it was fabulous compared to lunchtime when the score was 45 for 3, It was a great time, thanks to a 103-run partnership for the fifth wicket that moved along at more than five runs per over.
While the clouds were present, the change in the batting challenge was impressive, as New Zealand ended up bowling in the conditions that England had hoped to take advantage of after winning the toss on the first day.
The hot and windy weather that started the match was replaced in the morning by cooler, cloudy conditions with a light breeze, which was great for making the ball swing. In fact, the amount of swing available was nearly twice what England had experienced.
After New Zealand finished their first innings with a score of 348, adding 29 runs in just 40 minutes, their aggressive bowling reminded everyone of their surprising 46-all-out performance against India in Bengaluru last month.
Tim Southee started strong with a perfect first over against Zak Crawley, who quickly got out lbw to Matt Henry after facing 12 balls without scoring. The real damage was done by new player Nathan Smith in the last over before lunch, as he took out Jacob Bethell for 10 runs and then, crucially, England's star player Joe Root for a duck.
Bethell faced a tough time in his first innings at No. 3. He had to wait for 13 balls before he could score his first run with a gentle shot to the leg side, and he didn’t add to his score for another 13 balls. However, when Smith came in to bowl, Bethell was able to relax a bit and hit two boundaries: one off his pads and the other through backward point.
Smith, however, had the last laugh at the beginning of his second over. With only a few minutes left in the session, he bowled a great delivery that came in at the left-handed batsman from around the wicket and then straightened up, catching the edge of the bat.
Smith had a tense wait while the third umpire checked if it was a no-ball, but feeling excited, he ended the session with an even more important wicket. Root faced three balls, two of which were ruled as no-balls this time, but on the fourth, it was bowled wider and then came back off the pitch, hitting the edge and knocking the bails off.
Ben Duckett managed to hold his ground in his own unique way, hitting six fours in a 62-ball innings of 46 runs. He had some lucky escapes, surviving a routine catch to Tom Latham at second slip when he was on 23 off Henry's bowling, along with a couple of inside edges and a risky pull shot that went over deep third. Eventually, the tall seamer Will O'Rourke got him out with a top-edge to deep backward square.
At 71 for 4, England was in a tough spot, and things could have been worse if Brook hadn’t been dropped at gully by Glenn Phillips when he was on 18, just one over later. Bowler Smith was unlucky again when Latham missed another catch at second slip, letting Brook escape at 41 runs.
However, as the sun began to shine, England's determination to be aggressive helped them recover some lost ground. Pope, batting at No. 6 for this Test – partly because he's keeping wicket and partly due to his poor performance in Pakistan – started off quickly, playing a series of risky shots over the field, some of which weren't well-controlled.
Brook joined in with a stunning flick for six over a fine leg off Henry, and England's scoring rate started to climb back to their usual pace of 4 runs per over, which had worked well against many bowling attacks in the past. By tea, both players had reached their fifties with the ball being 41 overs old - Brook hitting another six over fine leg and Pope nudging a single after facing 59 balls. There was a sense of more runs to come, provided the weather held up, of course.
The day's excitement began right at the end of New Zealand's innings, in the first 40 minutes. Glenn Phillips increased his overnight score from 41 to an unbeaten 58, helping New Zealand add another 29 runs for their last two wickets. However, it wasn't an easy outing; Phillips showed how tough it was when he yelled, "Oh you weasel!" after Chris Woakes beat him with an outswinger.
Southee, at the other end, decided to go on the attack after seeing how the ball was moving. He hit a boundary off Woakes in the first over but was then dismissed by Brydon Carse's very first ball of the morning. Southee tried to pull a ball outside off but ended up hitting it straight to Gus Atkinson at deep square.
Will O'Rourke, batting at No. 11, held his ground well as Carse kept bowling outside the stumps instead of going for them. Phillips took advantage of the situation and reached his fifth Test fifty.
He had a close call at 42 when Carse, bowling fast, hit him hard on the helmet with a top edge. He was then dropped in the same over by Root at slip, a difficult catch diving to his right. Eventually, Carse found his line and bowled O'Rourke with an outswinging yorker, finishing the innings with his best-ever figures of 4 for 64 in his third Test.
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