new zealand 347 (Santner 76, Latham 63, Potts 4-90) and 453 (Williamson 156, Young 60, Mitchell 60) beat England 143 (Henry 4-48, Santner 3-7, O’Rourke 3-33) and 234 (Bethel 76, Root 54, Santner 4-85) from 423 runs
It continued New Zealand’s remarkable recent record in Hamilton, where they have won eight of their last 10 Test matches dating back to 2012, and halted a run of four consecutive home defeats since visiting Australia in February. Has been installed.
Bethel’s performance at number 3 was excellent and he added his third half-century in as many Test matches. His partnership with Root suggested that England were keen to make New Zealand work hard for a win, but both were out before lunch and there was little resistance from the rest of the batting order apart from Gus Atkinson, who made 43 off 41 balls. Hit eight fours in the run. Ollie Pope, bowled by Matt Henry while attempting to reverse-ramp in the fourth over after lunch, suggested he had little appetite for the spin.
Chasing the target of 658 runs to win in the morning, England started the game at 18 runs for 2 wickets. If it was an unexpected target, there would have been two days of batting for a draw – but Root and Bethel made positive progress, putting on a partnership of 50 inside the first nine overs.
Both tried their luck from time to time. Root was badly dropped by Tom Latham at second slip off Southee when he was on 20, while Bethel cut Henry behind his stumps in an attempt to drive. Will O’Rourke, in particular, gave Bethel a tough time around the wicket, taking his pace to 153kph/93mph in his second spell.
After scoring a run a ball, Bethel slowed down as he approached his half-century in 60 balls. He achieved this feat by taking a single off Santner’s ball, which Root repeatedly dismissed and completed his half-century after a few overs, along with which their partnership reached 100.
But it was Santner who made the breakthrough, Root missed the ball as he looked to sweep to get trapped in front. It was given not out by Ahsan Raza, but New Zealand’s review was shown to be a surprise, with the ball diving under the bat before straightening the line of middle and off stump.
O’Rourke then got the reward he deserved when he dismissed Harry Brook cheaply for the second time in the match. Brook, who had scored a golden duck in the first innings, attempted to charge on his fourth ball and was then dismissed on his sixth ball, a sharp short delivery which he could only stop at slip.
Ollie Pope suffered an arm injury in the same over when he was hit by a bouncer, but Bethel continued the attack and hit three fours off O’Rourke in the space of five balls. However, after first hitting Southee’s first ball of the day over the head of mid-on for four runs, he fell to the retiring seamer attempting to repeat the trick in his second spell as he edged the ball over deep backward point. But Glenn Phillips was driven out.
Atkinson came to the crease with the fall of the fifth wicket, while Stokes was still in his training kit, and he gave an indication of England’s mentality at lunch by taking four runs from his first nine balls. He started in the same rhythm again, hitting Santner for 6-4-4 in the first over before an ugly swipe from Pope was ultimately tried once too many. Santner then finished the innings in the space of five balls, helping New Zealand equal the margin of victory over Sri Lanka in Christchurch in 2018.
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick
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