England are set to end their marathon year on a low after collapsing in dismal fashion on the second afternoon of the third Test against New Zealand.
At 77 for two in reply to the hosts’ 347, they were in the game. But a pair of three-wicket bursts – from the excellent young fast bowler Will O’Rourke and the canny left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner – bundled them out for 143, all but ensuring England’s 17th Test in 2024 will conclude with their eighth defeat.
Such was the end-of-term feel to their batting that, had Tom Latham enforced the follow-on with a lead of 204 – comfortably the biggest deficit England have conceded in the Bazball era – his team might now be eyeing an innings win.
Instead, with 10 sessions still available, New Zealand spent the two and a half hours after tea moving to 136 for three. Latham was bowled by Gus Atkinson for 19, and Will Young caught in the deep off Ben Stokes for 60.
Unaccountably, O’Rourke walked out as nightwatchman with 20 minutes still to go, and the lead out of sight – only to edge Stokes behind for a duck. When Rachin Ravindra finally emerged at No 5, England’s fielders let him know what they thought of it all.
Even so, at stumps – with Kane Williamson unbeaten on 50 – New Zealand led by 340, bringing to a close a day on which England, for all their pre-match protestations, looked as if they had their minds on Christmas and the flight home.
England are set to end their marathon year on a low after collapsing in dismal fashion on the second afternoon of the third Test against New Zealand
Mitchell Santner produced a stunning three-wicket bowling spell to inflict misery on England
Harry Brook was bowled for a golden duck as England’s mid-order collapse begun
O’Rourke, who had bowled with little luck in Wellington, was full of threat, inducing a loose drive from Jacob Bethell, forcing Harry Brook to play on first ball, then having Joe Root caught in the gully – all in the space of eight deliveries.
And Santner, who earlier in the day had exploited some curious tactics from Stokes to extend his last-wicket stand with O’Rourke to 44 and his own score to 76, disposed of Ollie Pope and Stokes in his first seven balls.
But as well as those two bowled during a collapse of eight for 66 – and, at the end, five for nine – England batted shambolically. Stokes had said in advance that his dressing-room don’t like the word ‘ruthless’. The cynical response after they were bundled out in 35.4 overs – their shortest first innings under his captaincy – was that you could see why.
Until now, England had spent the series getting out of trouble: they were 71 for four in reply to 348 at Christchurch, then 43 for four on the first morning in Wellington. Both times, they were rescued by a big stand from Brook and Pope. But, the series in the bag, they now lacked edge.
After Zak Crawley hit four fours off Tim Southee’s first over, Matt Henry began the slide, catching Crawley low to his left off his own bowling for 21. It was the fifth time in a row Henry has taken his wicket – at a personal cost of five runs. Crawley may be the only tourist on the planet who doesn’t enjoy visiting New Zealand.
Four balls later, Henry trapped Ben Duckett leg-before so palpably that it took him a moment to address his appeal to Ahsan Raza: 33 for two.
Root looked in the groove, but so did O’Rourke – the 6ft 4in quick born in Kingston-upon-Thames – and England could not handle him. The most dramatic moment of his three-wicket burst came when Brook – after 171 at Christchurch and 123 at Wellington – faced his first ball as the world’s top-ranked batsman, and was beaten by one that jagged back, took the inside edge and cannoned into leg stump.
New Zealand’s Will O’Rourke (right) claimed three wickets in eight overs against England
Joe Root during the course of his 32 runs overtook Pakistan’s Javed Miandad to become the leading run-scorer among visiting Test batsmen in New Zealand
When Root, who during the course of his 32 overtook Pakistan’s Javed Miandad to become the leading run-scorer among visiting Test batsmen in New Zealand, could only steer an attempted uppercut to Young in the gully, England were 82 for five.
Pope and Stokes rallied with a stand of 52, but the introduction of Santner proved the beginning of the end. Pope stiffly poked his fifth ball to Daryl Mitchell at slip for 24, before Stokes missed an almighty slog-sweep and was plumb leg-before to his seventh for 27.
England hadn’t used Shoaib Bashir at all during New Zealand’s first innings, yet Santner soon finished with three for seven – his best figures in his 14 home Tests.
Meanwhile, Henry finished with four, as Atkinson chipped to mid-on, and Matthew Potts skyed a catch into the covers. New Zealand might have lost the series, but they are finishing it much the stronger.
