England 280 and lead of 378 for 5 wickets (Root 73*, Stokes 35*) new zealand 125 (Atkinson 4-31, Carse 4-46) by 533 runs
Bethel’s contribution was bittersweet, as he fell four runs short of his first century in any format. Yet he confirmed the extent of his talent by batting at number 3 in his second Test and only his fourth time. He moved up the scoreboard after the dismissal of Jack Crawley in the second over – after being dismissed by Matt Henry for the fourth consecutive innings – and outscored his partner during a free-flowing stand that ended at more than 5 runs per over. But went away.
Nathan Smith bore the brunt of their early offense, with Bethel rushing him twice and also proving strong on drives. He survived when slashing Smith between the keeper and slip, with Daryl Mitchell on his way to a half-century off 52 balls, and was not afraid to get his hands on the chance as the second wicket pair cemented England’s position. Were.
Entering the 90s for only the second time in his first-class career, and having suffered a blow from Will O’Rourke’s short ball an over earlier, Bethell showed signs of nervousness. A skid pull from Tim Southee fell into no-man’s land, then he almost cut the next ball. Four hits through the third took him within range of a memorable Test century, but were caught short of the target by a wide drive.
After Ollie Pope was out cheaply, Ben Stokes came out and smashed the bat for another half-century partnership off just 39 balls, suggesting that the declaration may not be too far off. While New Zealand have achieved some great successes in recent memory, especially when England coach Brendon McCullum helped them score 680 for 8 against India on this ground a decade ago, and their pitches were prone to being flat, Have a habit of. , There is no doubt that they were in a deep pit.
A measure of how the day went for New Zealand was that their five-man attack managed to bowl zero maiden overs. The second thing was that none of their remaining batsmen faced more than 16 balls from Phillips as they were steamrolled during the morning session.
Atkinson won praise by adding a chapter to the storied history of Wellington cricket by becoming the first man to take a Test hat-trick at the Basin Reserve. It was the latest accolade in the 26-year-old’s stellar start to his Test career, less than six months after claiming 12 wickets on debut. This made him the seventh player to record ten wickets, a century (achieved against Sri Lanka in his fifth appearance) and a hat-trick, and in only his 10th Test – well ahead of the next fastest, Jonny Briggs (18 matches). .
Atkinson and Carse both took four wickets each as New Zealand collapsed within 45 minutes of the morning session. After Kane Williamson’s 37 runs on the first day, no New Zealand batsman was able to reach 20 runs.
He resumed his innings with Blundell batting with the nightwatchman O’Rourke. Blundell shaped well, only being sent on briefly in Carse’s second over as the bowler produced a lovely delivery to hit over the top. It was practically identical to the “no-ball of the century” for Williamson the previous evening, only this time there were no concerns about his front foot.
Two balls later, O’Rourke moved forward as expected and was trapped at mid-on. Smith and Phillips briefly suggested that a counter-attack could be made by scoring 29 runs at more than one run per ball. But Atkinson got the extra bounce on the tight line to beat Smith, who collided with his stumps in an attempt to edge out.
came again grace of coupAs Atkinson deflected a chest-high bumper to Henry to gully and then deceived Southee by pushing back down the field and then fell full and straight onto the stumps. Southee reviewed with a sad look, ball-tracking confirmed it had been hit on middle and leg – and Atkinson became the first Englishman to take a Test hat-trick since Moeen Ali at The Oval in 2017.
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick
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