England bring the box-office on thrilling third day of Test
OLLIE Pope repaid England’s show of faith and Joe Root continued his golden run of form as their twin centuries turned the tables on New Zealand in the second LV= Insurance Test.
Responding to the tourists’ formidable first-innings score of 553, England gave them a taste of their own medicine with a fluent, flowing batting display that carried them to 473 for five on a box-office third day at Trent Bridge.
England motored along at a fierce rate, scoring 383 in 88 overs, trailing by 80 but accelerating things enough to leave all results on the table.
Four years after his fast-track debut against India at Lord’s, Pope finally made his first century on home soil with a knock of 145 that may go down as a watershed moment. He was unexpectedly promoted to number three at the behest of new skipper Ben Stokes and, after a nervy start last week at Lord’s, grew impressively into the role here.
Root’s unbeaten 163, meanwhile, was merely the latest impeccable knock from a player in the form of his life. As well as being his fastest ever Test ton, coming up in just 116 balls, it was also his second in as many games since giving up the captaincy, his fifth in his last nine innings on home soil and his 10th since the start of 2021. He now sits level with his contemporaries Steve Smith and Virat Kohli on 27 hundreds and there is a growing feeling that he could be the one to leave the pack behind. England had started on 90 for one, with the words of batting coach Marcus Trescothick ringing in their ears. On the eve of the match he had told his side to prepare for a day of ‘hard work and discipline’ but, in reality, things came much easier than he could have hoped.
Alex Lees set the tone from the third ball of the morning, pounding Tim Southee through cover point for four. He was good value for his first England 50, opening up the off side well to draw the seamers back into his pads.
Pope started less assertively, twice nicking Trent Boult in front of the slips in a morning session that saw him add a gentle 33 in two hours as Lees, then Root, took the driving seat.
He stepped things up a notch after lunch, taking just 10 balls to move from 84 to his longawaited hundred. The tempo picked up again after tea. Boult struck twice with the second new ball, Pope top-edging a pull to end a memorable stay. England were still more than 200 adrift when Stokes stepped out, but he started in fifth gear and never retreated.
Root moved serenely past the 150 mark, taking the deficit into double figures at the same time, with Ben Foakes supporting well.
Root’s unbeaten 163 was merely the latest impeccable knock from a player in the form of his life Rory Dollard