England take five wickets in the final session to see New Zealand close out day four at 224-7, leading by 238 going into the final day. watch day five of the second test at Trent Bridge from 10.15am, Tuesday, Sky Sports Cricket
England are looking for a memorable win in the second LV= insurance test at Trent Bridge after reducing New Zealand to 224-7 – and a 238-stump lead – on day four, opening up the prospect of a thrilling chase. in the last day.
England, trailing by 80 overnight, were eventually eliminated by 539 in their opening innings (Joe Root added 13 to his score before dying by 176) to give the Black Caps a slim lead, but when James Anderson (1- 18) claimed his 650th Test wicket, bowling Tom Latham’s fifth ball, England were very much in the ascendancy.
Will Young (56) and Devon Conway (52) did well to repel the home team’s closers in useful conditions, sharing a century spot for second wicket, but just as New Zealand appeared to be clear of danger, three wickets fell by 27 runs to hope again in England.
First, they would have to find a way to get past Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell, the pair fresh from a 236-run partnership in the early innings, after a 195-run position at Lord’s. While Blundell (24) stayed on for a while, his wicket to Stuart Broad (1-53) sparked another mini-collapse of three wickets within six overs at the end of the day.
Mitchell, who posted a magnificent 190 two days ago, remains, closing the day undefeated on 32, though he will complain of two errors on his clock that resulted in the wickets of Young and Tim Southee.
England were aggressive from the start on day four, with Root sensationally turning around Southee (0-154) for six and Ben Foakes firing a bounding flurry on his way to a second Test fifty.
The hosts topped 500 and reeled in the New Zealand scoreboard (43 runs coming from the first five overs of the morning session), only for the Kiwis to finally bring out Root, the former England captain fooled for a ball slower than Trent Boult and selecting the man took cover.
A noise of wickets followed, England losing their last five by just 23 runs as Boult (5-106) and Michael Bracewell (3-62) wiped the tail. Foakes (56) was unlucky enough to be without him after he was sold a dummy by Matthew Potts (3), who was dropped by a devastating yorker from Boult (5-106) to secure his tenth Test five-for-and-fifth. against England.
New Zealand started their second inning with a 14-run lead, but Anderson and company certainly wouldn’t have minded an early bowl as, in grim conditions, with the Trent Bridge floodlights on, the ball moved in an extravagant fashion: a of those deliveries he cheated on Latham. him as he shouldered his arms into a ball that snapped off a pitch and resonated in the middle and rolled away from him.
England deserved greater rewards for their efforts in the pre-lunch mini-session, with Young and Conway leaving balls perilously close to their stumps but benefiting from a greater fortune than their deputy skipper.
After a thoughtful start after the interval, conditions began to get easier to hit and they both liked Jack Leach (1-78). Conway in particular, the southpaw repeatedly sweeping back the left arm spinner, bringing the New Zealand 100 and his fifty with such punches to the limit.
But a conventional sweep was ultimately Conway’s undoing, as, one ball past his half-century, he only managed to pick out Jonny Bairstow at the deep square-legged fence.
Henry Nicholls (3) was also guilty of giving away his wicket, slapping a rather innocuous Potts delivery straight into Alex Lees at the point back in the first over after tea to end a rather rough 18-ball stay in the box. .
Young, shortly after mentioning his first fifty of the series, was the next to go, running out after the mix-up between him and Mitchell. Ollie Pope collected the ball square-legged, scooped up and wisely shot the ball to Ben Stokes at the non-forward end, and the England captain did a brilliant job of dislodging the blind bails behind his back.
Mitchell and Blundell, as has so often been the case throughout this series, halted England’s momentum, scoring 45 together, before the latter died connecting Broad with Stokes in the back square, who pointed in celebration at the balcony of England, hinting at a plan. devised by the Kiwi collective in the coaching staff.
Bracewell (25) came in and hit four bounds and a six in a 17-ball cameo before getting burned trying a shot over the impressive Potts (2-32). Southee was the next to go down, running for a duck when Mitchell blinded on a second run only to send his doomed partner back as he entered the shot.
England still need three more wickets (potentially two, depending on the fitness of Kyle Jamieson, who left the pitch on the third night with a back injury) early on the fifth and final morning before attempting an admittedly tricky chase, but they were in for it, they would post a 2-0 series victory with one Test to play.
sixteen – Root’s 176 was his 16th Test century in England, beating the tallies of Ian Bell, Alastair Cook, Graham Gooch and Kevin Pietersen, who all scored 15 Test tons at home. The record number of home Test centuries is 23, shared by Mahela Jayawardena, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting.
1,092 – runs in the first two innings of this test match. Only once since 1990 has an England home test seen more runs compiled in the first two innings: England against Australia in the ashes of 2009 in Cardiff, which saw 1,109 scored.
Watch the fifth and final day of the second LV= Insurance Test between England and New Zealand, at Trent Bridge, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.15am on Tuesday.
