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An opening 149 from Tom Latham and Devon Conway helped propel England to victory after forcing New Zealand to follow in Wellington on the third day of the second Test.
New Zealand captain Tim Southee put up some brave resistance at Basin Reserve with 73 off 49 balls as the team moved on to 138-7, but he was Stuart Broad’s first victim of the morning as the Black Caps were dismissed for 209.
England captain Ben Stokes did not hesitate to implement the follow-on with the hosts needing 226 just to make tourists bat again, but openers Latham (83) and Conway (61) frustrated the bowlers in the second innings with a third century partnership in. Test cricket.
Conway and Latham eventually departed quickly to spinners Jack Leach and Joe Root shortly after tea, with Will Young also dismissed for just eight, but Henry Nicholls and Kane Williamson saw New Zealand to the end on 202-3 – still 24 shy of making England bat again.
Story of the day
England started the morning of the third day only needing three wickets to bowl the hosts, but Southee is determined to carry on where he left off the night before with some big-hitting – including bringing up a half-century with six back down. ground in six days.
Broad removed the New Zealand captain in the first over when Southee popped one to Zak Crawley at mid-on just one ball after being put down by Leach on the leg-side boundary. Leach made amends two overs later though when he caught Tom Blundell (38) at mid-on after the wicketkeeper had come galloping down the track to Broad.
Henry’s dismissal ensured the seamer, who had contributed to Michael Bracewell’s end of day two as well, finished with figures of 4-61 and left New Zealand still 226 away from making England bat again.
England’s bowlers were made to toil in the afternoon after New Zealand followed suit
Perhaps unsurprisingly Stokes opted quickly to execute the follow-up, but openers Latham and Conway combined some obdurate defending with judicious shot selection to produce an impressive response and ultimately ensure England had to wait at least another day to complete it. victory in this game and 2-0 series triumph.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing for England’s seam triumvirate of Broad, James Anderson and Ollie Robinson is that they find the edge and ask too many questions of the batters, though all too often the edge fails to take them to the slips.
Latham, who passed the milestone of 5,000 runs in Test cricket in an innings, became the first to reach the half-century mark – his 26th 50 in Tests – for the 41st time and Conway reached his sixth Test 50 below.
By tea, the duo had guided New Zealand to 128 for no loss, but the combination of left-arm spinner Leach and close fielder Ollie Pope broke the four-over stand in the afternoon session when Conway popped one to catch.
Jack Leach claimed two wickets for England in the afternoon session
Root’s off-turn contributed to Latham three overs later when he was trapped lbw and Young fell to Leach soon after courtesy of a clean bowled man from a sumptuous delivery which did the right-hander all ends up.
However, Williamson (25 not out) and Nicholls (18 not out) dug in to see New Zealand through to close, even England had the new ball for the final three overs of the day could not dislodge one of them.
‘It’s a fun day’
England assistant coach Paul Collingwood spoke to BT sports…
“They [New Zealand] really hard fight, it’s an enthralling day. You’re going to have days like this – we’ve all had these days.
“Unfortunately we didn’t get wickets today but they fought hard and we are still in a good position.
“I don’t think the captain thought about not following through. There’s no doubt – he went in and said he wanted to win the game.”
Follow England’s second and final Test against New Zealand, at Basin Reserve in Wellington, across the Sky Sports digital platform, with coverage continuing from 9.30pm on Sunday.
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