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ENG vs NZ | 1st Test, Day 2 | Resilient Blundell, Mitchell steer Kiwis to commanding position

New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell (97 off 188) and wicket-keeper batter Tom Blundell (90 off 182) starred with the bat after England debutant Matthew Potts gave the early blows to the visitors once again to tilt the match in Kiwis' favour at the end of second day's play. 


The duo found a support system in one another as they went on to put on an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 180 to take New Zealand's lead over 200. 


England eke out a slender lead of 9 runs


England earlier resumed Day 2 at 116-7 and was trailing by 16 runs with three wickets in hand. However, the hosts lost the wicket of Stuart Broad in the morning session as Tim Southee clattered his leg stump to see him walk back to the pavilion. 


Foakes was the second one of the day to fall prey to Southee's good length delivery, with Daryl Mitchell making no mistake at first slip. Trent Boult then gave it a mortal blow by dismissing concussion substitute, Matthew Parkinson. 


However, the cameo knocks from the trio helped England add up 25 runs to the overnight score, taking the England scoreboard tally to 141 and providing them with a narrow first-innings lead of nine runs.


New Zealand's Pace Predators On Attack 


For New Zealand, Tim Southee was at his lethal best even on the second day of the game as he ended the inning with 4 wickets under his belt while conceding 55 runs. Trent Boult was equally impressive as he picked up 3 wickets. Also, Jamieson had a couple of wickets in his pocket while Grandhomme ended with one, that too of the big man, Joe Root.  


England thwarted by Daryl Mitchell & Tom Blundell 


New Zealand once again got off to a terrible start with the bat as they lost opener Will Young for another low score as James Anderson removed him for the score of 1. Skipper Kane Williamson (15 off 34) was the next to follow as he tried a backfoot punch off Matthew Potts only to find a thick outside edge to hand the cherry to Bairstow at slips. 


Potts got the skipper twice in this Test Match. A dream debut for Durham bowler continued as he sent the vice-captain Tom Latham (14 off 33) back to the pavilion to claim two wickets on the second day of the game. Devon Conway (13 off 34), too, had a short stay as Stuart Broad once again dismissed him to leave New Zealand in trouble at 56/4.  


Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell then joined hands to frustrate the English bowlers with the controlled batting as the duo added the highest run-stand in the series opener so far. Their partnership meant New Zealand stretched its lead to 227 runs over England, which had earlier been bowled out for just 141.


Brief Score on Day 2:  


New Zealand - 132-10 (40.0) [1st innings]

Colin de Grandhomme 42*, Tim Southee 26 (23);

Matthew Potts 4-13 (9.2), James Aderson 4-66 (16)


England - 141/10 (42.5) [1st Innings]

Zak Crawley 43 (56), Alex Lees 25 (77); 

Tim Southee 4-55 (14), Boult 3-21 (13.5)


New Zealand - 236/4 [2nd Innings] 

Daryl Mitchell 97* (188), Tom Blundell 90* (182); Matthew Potts 2-50 (19)  


New Zealand lead by 227 runs. 


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NED vs WI | 3rd ODI | Preview, Prediction, Probable XI, CREX XI

The third and final ODI between hosts the Netherlands and the West Indies will take place on Saturday, June 4, at the VRA Cricket Ground in Amstelveen. West Indies might have already taken an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match affair, but with valuable ICC ODI Super League points up for grabs, the final ODI is by no means a dead rubber. The tourists rode on an unbeaten 90-ball 91 from Brandon King and a valuable 43* from lower-order batter Keacy Carty, which helped them chase down the total of 215. But it was not before they were given a mighty scare by the Dutch pace attack, led by Bas De Leede. With the centurion from the 1st ODI, Shai Hope, falling cheap, none of the top four, including skipper Nicholas Pooran could stem the slide. The visitors will look to improve their performance with the bat in the final ODI. As for the home side, the Pieter Seelaar-led team would be disappointed that they couldn't seize the advantage with both bat and ball. Twice in the last game, the Dutch had the chance to nail the former champions on the floor, but the inability of the middle-order to back up the good work done by the openers as well as the failure by their bowlers to close the innings off after they had reduced WI to 99/5. The result of the series has been decided, but the home side will look to claim 10 valuable super league points and, in the process, break their losing streak of 8 consecutive ODIs. Match Details: Match: Netherlands vs West Indies, 3rd ODI Date: June 4 2022 Time: 02:30 PM IST Venue: VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen. Live Streaming: Fancode Pitch Report: The surface at the VRA Academy has proved to be a balanced one so far, with batters finding a way to get big scores and fast bowlers as well as spinners also chipping in. The tweakers have proved to be quite a handful, as was evident in the last game where Akeal Hosein took a four-fer. One can expect more of the same in the final match. Head-To-Head: Matches played: 4 Won by Netherlands: 0 Won by the West Indies: 4 Squads: Netherlands Pieter Seelaar (c), Scott Edwards (wk), Vikramjit Singh, Fred Klaassen, Vivian Kingma, Ryan Klein, Bas de Leede, Musa Nadeem Ahmad, Teja Nidamanuru, Shariz Ahmad, Logan van Beek, Philippe Boissevain, Aryan Dutt, Clayton Floyd, Max O'Dowd, Tonny Staal. West Indies Nicholas Pooran (c), Shai Hope (wk), Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Jayden Seales, Hayden Walsh Jr, Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Keacy Carty, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Shermon Lewis, Anderson Phillip Probable Playing XI: Netherlands: Vikramjit Singh, Max O'Dowd, Scott Edwards (WK), Musa Ahmed, Bas de Leede, Pieter Seelaar (c), Teja Nidamanuru, Logan Van Beek, Ryan Klein, Aryan Dutt, Vivian Kingma West Indies: Shai Hope (WK), Shamarh Brooks, Nkrumah Bonner, Brandon King, Shermon Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran (c), Keacy Carty, Alzarri Joseph, Anderson Phillip/Jayden Seales, Akeal Hosein, Hayden Walsh Jr Prediction: West Indies likely to win the game and take the series 3-0 CREX XI Suggestion: Wicket-Keeper: Shai Hope, Vikramjit Singh Batters: Brandon King, Max O'Dowd, Nicholas Pooran All-Rounders: Logan van Beek, Kyle Mayers Bowlers: Bas de Leede, Akeal Hosein, Hayden Walsh Jr, Alzarri Joseph Captain: Shai Hope Vice-captain: Max O'Dowd

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