Joe at root of NZ’s problems
Well, this looks somewhat familiar – if you swap the sides around.
New Zealand will enter the final day of their two-test series against England seeking to deny the visitors victory, with the weather set to lend a hand.
After a big – and sole – first innings tally helped them to win the first test in Mt Maunganui, the Black Caps got a dose of their own medicine at Seddon Park yesterday. But it’s likely England’s 476 in their first innings wasn’t enough, despite a star role from skipper Joe Root.
At stumps on day four of the second test, New Zealand were 96-2 – trailing England by five runs after slumping to 28-2.
Heavy rain is expected for at least the final session of the test today, likely to limit the time England have to take the remaining eight wickets and then chase down their second innings target.
Add that to their big stumbling blocks of Black Caps captain Kane Williamson – who looked in fine touch in reaching 37 not out – and stalwart Ross Taylor, unbeaten on 31.
Root was the man responsible for putting New Zealand under brow-wiping pressure when they began their second innings.
After notching his first test century in 15 innings before the close of play on Sunday, the
England captain Joe Root is hit as he attempts to play a reverse sweep shot during his innings of 226 on day four of the second against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
28-year-old batted on and on to give England enough of a first innings lead to let his pace attack loose on the home top order.
Root’s 226 – made from 441 balls in a touch over 101⁄2 hours – became the highest individual test score recorded at Seddon Park, surpassing the only other double-centurion, Williamson’s unbeaten 200 against Bangladesh earlier this year.
Under pressure over his lack of runs and captaincy issues prior
to this test, Root was quietly confident this big knock was looming.
He did that with elegant assuredness – while even England’s other high-scorers Rory Burns (101) and Ollie Pope (75) rode their luck, Root was seldom bothered.
In bringing up his double ton and becoming the first visiting captain to make a double century in this country, Root almost sacrificed Pope but Henry
Nicholls’ dive-pass didn’t find the stumps.
It was the slowest England double-century in 45 years as New Zealand’s bowlers toiled manfully to restrict the scoring rate.
Resuming at 269-5, England went without losing a wicket in the first session for the second day in succession.
England went past New Zealand’s first innings tally of 375 three minutes before the lunch
NEW ZEALAND First innings 375 Second innings
T Latham c Root b Woakes ................................ 18 J Raval lbw b Curran ............................................... 0 K Williamson not out ............................................ 37 R Taylor not out ....................................................... 31 Extras (1b, 2lb, 2w, 5pen) .................................... 10 Total (2wkts, 34 overs) ....................................... 96 Fall: 2, 28.
Bowling: S Broad 5-0-18-0, S Curran 8-1-26-1 (2w), J Archer 7-0-19-0, C Woakes 7-3-8-1, B Stokes 6-1-17-0, J Denly 1-1-0-0.
ENGLAND First innings
R Burns run out ....................................................... 101 D Sibley lbw Southee ............................................... 4 J Denly c Watling b Henry ..................................... 4 J Root c Nicholls b Santner ............................ 226 B Stokes c Taylor b Southee .............................. 26 Z Crawley c Watling b Wagner ............................. 1 O Pope c Raval b Wagner .................................. 75 S Curran not out ....................................................... 11 C Woakes c Watling b Wagner .......................... 0 J Archer b Wagner ................................................... 8 S Broad b Wagner .................................................... 0 Extras (4b, 14lb, 1nb, 1w) ..................................... 20 Total (all out, 162.5 over) ................................. 476 Fall: 11, 24, 201, 245, 262, 455, 458, 460, 476,
476.
Bowling: T Southee 37-4-90-2, M Henry
33-6-87-1, N Wagner 35.5-3-124-5 (1w), D Mitchell 22-5-69-0 (1nb), M Santner
35-4-88-1.
break and when Neil Wagner ploughed through the tail to grab his ninth five-wicket test bag, England’s advantage was 101.
New Zealand lost the out-oftouch Jeet Raval in the second over of their second dig when he was adjudged lbw and opted not to review after a brief chat with his batting partner, Tom Latham, but subsequent replays showed he would have been likely to get a reprieve for an inside edge.
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