ENG vs NZ | 2nd Test Day 3: England's muddle ripped open as spirited Kiwis smell historic series win

A clinical display of bowling line and length on the back of strong batting performance has put New Zealand at a touching distance from winning the second Test and the series against England in England, for the first time since 1999. 

At stumps on day three, England were languishing at nine down for 122 with a lead of just 37 runs—a majority of which came from the bat of Mark Wood, whose batting display must have sent some sort of embarrassment to English batsmen batting above him in the batting order.

New Zealand were in a great position to bat the hosts out of the game in the first innings itself but English bowlers showed determination to snatch the momentum from them in the morning session. However, all those missed opportunities have more or less been compensated by an outstanding bowling lineup that never made it look like missing performers as big as Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson.

England conceded a sizeable lead of 85 runs although it once appeared to be far bigger than that. They needed their openers to shine again to combat the new-ball pair of Matt Henry and Trent Boult but it could not have been a more contrasting start. 

England’s best batsman in the series Rory Burns was tempted into driving at one that wasn’t so full to be driven and was also far away from him even before the hosts could open up their account. 

Henry did not stop there and found another edge of Dom Sibley bat although the batsman did not play an expansive drive like his partner. 

The man on pair Zak Crawley got off the mark with a huge reception from the Barmy Army, whose sound could well have given a false signal that all were good and on track for England cricket. However, his innings could not flourish longer than few crisp boundaries and Henry found his pads in front of the stumps to leave England in tatters.

The England middle order has been shambolic for so many games starting the series against Sri Lanka and the course correction has not taken place even in home conditions. 

Ollie Pope came out with aggressive inter once again but the workhorse Neil Wagner, who has also found considerable success with the swinging ball in England, tailed one sharply back towards his pads and the Surrey right-hander was caught napping after being set up by away going deliveries, one after another. 

The script continued, not only for Wagner but also for the next England batsman Daniel Lawrence, who had the dismissal of Pope playing all over his mind. He was nervous around his off stump and Wagner was smart enough to drag his line a bit straighter to make the case a complicated one for him and eventually getting him edged behind to the keeper.

After Lawrence’s departure, England’s hopes were solemnly on the skipper Joe Root’s shoulder and he was not finding it easy to score runs. He struggled for timing and New Zealand bowlers relentless in their discipline to deny him any sort of breathing space. 

He was joined by James Bracey, who must have walked in with the weight of the world and all the hype surrounding him over his head. He got off the mark in Test cricket in his second game but an eagerness to score off Ajaz Patel saw him walking back to the pavilion with serious helplessness. 

Patel may not have played this Test had Mitchell Santner not injured his hand in the last Test and he picked up the last thorn in New Zealand’s flesh in the form of Joe Root to establish how poor that decision was in the first Test and would have been in the second one at Edgbaston.

With Root gone, England were down and out but the two batsmen Olly Stone and Mark Wood made sure to not make a light work of the case for the Blackcaps. Wood smashed few crisp boundaries and used his admirably against Patel to hit him down the ground and cut him behind point showing the mind of a top-order batsman while playing spin. 

Earlier, New Zealand almost squandered the great opportunity with the bat but Ross Taylor transformed himself from a man who looked completely out of form to the batsman for what he has been known for in international cricket. Taylor was extremely harsh on short deliveries from Stone and Wood but remained vigilant against his longtime nemesis Stuart Broad.

No other batsman except Tom Blundell could utilise the platform set by Will Youn, Taylor and Devon Conway but some useful contributions from the bat lower down the order helped the tourists gain a valuable, tactical lead over England which ultimately proved to be enough for an ill-disciplined England batting line up against the quality of their bowling attack.

All seems to be over for England except if the game starts writing its won script and England bowlers could produce a Lord’s 2013 like performance yet again on the fourth day of the Test.