Watch cricket video highlights of New Zealand tour of England 2024. 3rd Test between New Zealand and England. Venue of the match will be Hamilton.
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On the first day of the third and final Test match against England in Hamilton, a valiant New Zealand innings was given some glitz by half-centuries from Tom Latham and Mitchell Santner. The situation at stumps was similar to that of the second Test, which was a whirlwind of match-changing events, but New Zealand had blown a position of strength in the face of a persistent England performance that left the day evenly poised, thanks in large part to Santner’s undefeated fifty off 54 balls with his side nine wickets down.
Despite a strong comeback from 4 for 43, New Zealand finished the first day in Wellington with 86 for 5, behind their opponents’ 280. Here, the hosts were in uncharted terrain for this series after an opening partnership of 105 between Latham and Will Young, who is filling in for Devon Conway, who is on paternity leave. They then stumbled to 231 for 7, losing five wickets for 59 runs. However, Santner’s late surge took them to 315 for 9 at the end, with the Black Caps scoring 76 runs off the final eight overs of the day.
Tim Southee’s impressive cameo of 23 in 10 balls in his final game featured three sixes to bring his total to 98 from his 107-Test career. In the first session, England’s bowlers lacked bite, but in the middle session, they kept New Zealand at bay and enticed them into making some wayward shots in the evening. After Young failed to add to his 42 runs after lunch, 40 of which were fours, and Kane Williamson failed to convert, falling for 44 after futilely attempting to kick a Matthew Potts delivery away from his stumps, Latham’s half-century supported the hosts’ steady start.
With no other batter surpassing Southee’s score from No. 10, New Zealand may have been in a worse situation if it weren’t for Santner’s rambling knock. After being sent in by England under skies that had changed from bright to overcast in the hour before play, New Zealand’s re-calibrated opening partnership of Latham and Young skillfully navigated the morning session, reaching lunch at 93 without losing. After the main meal break, they were back in the bright sunshine.
Young, who made his first appearance of the series after replacing Chris Woakes, started cautiously, facing ten deliveries before getting off to a quick start with four off Potts. Following his Player-of-the-Series performance on the Black Caps’ successful tour of India, which was only a few weeks ago, Young was focused on his work, much to the delight of New Zealand supporters who had been eager for his inclusion. However, it felt so far away as their team fell behind 2-0 against England.
His first two boundaries were streaky, penetrating the cordon and coming off the edge via backward point. However, Young and Latham had already more than doubled New Zealand’s previous best opening partnership this series by negotiating a nibbling pitch midway through the morning session to ease their way to 46 without loss. As the England fast failed to hit his lengths, Young punished Brydon Carse twice in one over after helping himself to six fours all up shortly after the first drinks break.
Ben Duckett dropped Latham on 12 and 53, respectively, as England broke his partnership with Young. He was forced out by a superb delivery from Gus Atkinson that gave Harry Brook a leg up at second slip. Williamson pulled a Carse short ball through deep backward square for four, breaking the pattern of waiting so long to be called upon in this set. Additionally, it appeared that Williamson would have to defend his team once again when Potts eventually got Latham down the leg side, but this time from a better position at 142 for 2.
The England skipper shrewdly overruled wicketkeeper Ollie Pope’s claim that he had snaffled Williamson down the leg side off Stokes for 20, replays supporting Stokes’ judgment after burning a review as Stokes hoped to get Latham out caught behind off his own bowling. With the exception of Williamson’s bizarre dismissal attempt to fend Potts back down the pitch, where he lost the ball behind him after it eluded his searching boot and dribbled into the base of middle stump, Rachin Ravindra spooned Carse straight to Duckett at gully for a soft dismissal.
Blundell chipped Carse to cover point, where Jacob Bethell made a solid catch over his head; Glenn Phillips swung wildly at a Potts ball outside off and hit it straight to Zak Crawley at backward point; and Daryl Mitchell picked out Stokes at mid off. The young England player dragged the ball down inside the boundary rope, parried it up, and then jumped over, diving back in to finish the catch after Brook’s superb fielding removed Matt Henry’s hooking of Stokes.
Santner, who was substituted by Nathan Smith as a frontline spinner for this match, took a Stokes bouncer to the top of his helmet but bounced back to play a crucial part in New Zealand’s comeback. When Southee hit Stokes for consecutive sixes, his home fans was ecstatic. Stokes, who gave up 17 runs off the over, smiled uncontrollably. A mistake on the boundary by Duckett led to four off the following ball, and Southee, seemed intent on hitting his tonne of maximums, smashed the first delivery with the second new ball for another six over deep midwicket off Atkinson.
But when Southee attempted to get down the ground and skied to Carse at mid-off two balls later, his fun was done. A four-off In the penultimate over, Potts pulled Santner within striking distance of his fifty. He snatched it with style, hitting the day’s final ball for six over long-off. Atkinson finished with 3 for 55 and Potts with 3 for 75.
