Tea New Zealand 278 and 191 for 6 (de Grandhomme 27*, Sodhi 16*) need another 191 runs to beat England 307 and 352 for 9 dec (Vince 76, Stoneman 60, Root 54, Malan 53, de Grandhomme 4-94)
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
England were in a race against the setting sun in their bid for a rare overseas Test victory on the final day of the second Test at Christchurch, as New Zealand’s batting struggled to withstand a committed final surge from a side that has not won on its travels since the tour of Bangladesh in October 2016, 13 matches ago.
Despite a gutsy 83 from the opener Tom Latham, who was well caught on the sweep after 207 balls of fluent obduracy, New Zealand had been up against it right from the moment that Stuart Broad claimed two wickets with his first two wickets of the day.
Regular breakthroughs thereafter meant that, by the break, Colin de Grandhomme was living dangerously on 27 with Ish Sodhi for company on 16, and, with the new ball just two overs old, New Zealand’s best hope of survival almost certainly lay in the vagaries of Christchurch’s autumnal weather, with bad light sure to be a factor before the scheduled close of play.
Jeet Raval, Latham’s opening partner, had battled through that very gloom on the fourth evening to give his side a real chance of making it through this final day. However, facing up to Broad’s first delivery of the morning, Raval’s eyes lit up at the sight of a juicy leg-stump half-volley, and he lost his shape entirely in clipping a head-high chance to Mark Stoneman at midwicket.
Far worse was to follow for New Zealand one ball later. Kane Williamson, their captain and star batsman, was done in by a beauty from Broad, a perfect off-stump lifter that cramped him for room as he was drawn to meet the line and grazed a blameless edge through to Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps. Williamson was gone for the first golden duck of his Test career, and New Zealand were suddenly in the mire at 42 for 2.
Ross Taylor survived the hat-trick ball, and was later dropped on 6 by James Vince at third slip, but was soon done in by the early introduction of the left-arm spin of Jack Leach. He was caught at short backward square on the sweep for 13 – a curious dismissal, given that the man had only moments been brought into position for that very stroke. Leach cared not for the circumstances though. Taylor’s scalp made for a very memorable maiden Test wicket.
James Anderson then returned to the attack to sucker Henry Nicholls on the drive, also for 13. It was the classic Anderson set-up, pushing his man back into the crease then drawing him forward with a fuller-length outswinger, for Alastair Cook at first slip to swallow a comfortable edge. And as Anderson crossed yet another notable milestone later in the day, overhauling Courtney Walsh’s tally of 30,019 legitimate deliveries to become the most overworked fast bowler in Test history, Nicholls could console himself that he wasn’t the first to succumb to his wiles.
All the while Latham endured for New Zealand, bringing up his fifty with a well-timed sweep for four off Leach, and generally displaying the composure and fluency that his team-mates were sorely lacking.
For a time, Latham found a steadfast ally in BJ Watling, with whom he added 44 for the fifth wicket either side of lunch. But then up popped Mark Wood, with a classic example of how genuine pace can rattle a well-set batsman. After bombing Watling with short balls from over the wicket, Wood changed his line to attack Watling’s torso, but suckered the batsman with the surprise fuller ball. Watling turned his stance inside-out in a pre-meditated attempt to fend off the bouncer, and was forced into a limp reflexive flick to short backward square.
New Zealand’s prospects were even more severely dented ten overs later, when Leach popped up to extract the linchpin, Latham. Throughout his day’s work, Leach had been finding some purchase from the rough outside the left-hander’s off stump, and sure enough, he got one to pop as Latham stretched forward to sweep. Vince at deep backward square made good ground to scoop a low chance, and leave the lower-order exposed at 162 for 6.
But de Grandhomme, with a muscular determination to lay bat on ball, found a means to endure against pace and spin alike – albeit he might have fallen three times in six Leach deliveries as he drove aggressively out of the rough and squirted three shots at a catchable height through point. Sodhi meanwhile was dropped on 0 by Stoneman at silly point, a sharp chance that burst through the fielder’s hands, but rallied well to keep his team afloat.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo