England v New Zealand: third men’s cricket Test, day three – live
14th over: New Zealand 51-2 (Nicholls 16, Ravindra 23) DROP! Tongue finds the edge of Nicholls’ bat and Harry Brook doesn’t go for it at first slip! Brook seemed to think he had a second slip next to him but there was only a yawning gap and the ball flew away without an attempt being made to grab it. D’oh!
4th over: New Zealand 8-1 (Conway 3, Nicholls 1) Atkinson strays onto Conway’s pads and is whipped away for a single. Nicholls leans on a full ball to get off the mark.
Full confession, I partook of a circa six minute shandy at the tea-break with a Guardian employee who has reserved the right to remain anonymous but is here as a punter at Trent Bridge. You can have a guess* but I’ll never tell, protect your sources (co-drinkers) at all times.
*No it wasn’t Monbiot. Absolute badger though I’m sure he is…
2nd over: New Zealand 5-1 (Conway 1, Nicholls 0) Atkinson is on the money with his first over too, I wonder if Ben Stokes has given a Thomas Tuchel style change of innings talk to get the blood pumping into his side? This elongated final session of day three really is crucial. There’s movement off the seam from Atkinson, Conway is watchful and then off the mark with a drop and run into the off side.
Just looking at the Archer/Latham wicket on the replay – Archer hares off giving it the full ‘Celebrappeal’ so certain was he that it was stone dead. Very apt from the Stuart Broad End here at Trent Bridge.
83rd over: England 348-7 (Atkinson 22, Archer 13) Thanks Tim and hello everyone. It’s cloudy and muggy here at Trent Bridge, ‘mafting’ you might say. The clouds have rolled over and the pitch is beginning to misbehave just a little, like a fractious toddler after a curtailed afternoon nap. Sears starts again after the drinks break, Gus Atkinson negotiates five balls and then glides a single past point to keep strike for the next.
New Zealand’s lead is still 90 runs. Handy.
82nd over: England 347-7 (Atkinson 21, Archer 13) Back comes O’Rourke to share the new ball. He almost gets Jofra with a caught-and-bowled, but drops a tough chance and looks as if he has cut his finger. There’s blood on his shirt as the players stop for drinks. Sorry to have gone too soon with drinks – I was deceived by a change of channel from Sky, which led to a flurry of ads.
Time for me to hand over to Jim Wallace, who will bring some much-needed spark. Thanks for your company and top-class correspondence on everything from leg-cutters to serendipitous typos.
Meanwhile Mike Davies Daniels is back for another spell. “The reason I say it’s a cutter,” he writes, “is for those deliveries [Foulkes is] holding the seam at 90 degrees to the fingers and, with his action, dragging the fingers down the off-side of the ball, which is different from his inswinging, stock ball.
“I watched him bowling for Warks when he had a spell there and he’s capable of moving the ball but seemed to have a little difficulty keeping a consistent line and length. He’s undeniably dangerous on a wicket like this.”
76th over: England 333-7 (Atkinson 14, Archer 5) On an afternoon that is merely hot rather than a scorcher, Jofra is warming to the task. He follows a comfy tuck for a single with a commanding cut for four.
“Hats off to Mike Davies!” says Rowan Sweeney. “Absolutely called it to perfection two overs ago!” That’s a contribution in the great Guardian tradition: observant, big-hearted, and slightly misprinted, as it was Mike Daniels.
74th over: England 323-7 (Atkinson 10, Archer 0) Sears tries to york Atkinson, one tall man aiming at the other’s Achilles heel. Atkinson digs it out and collects a single to reach double figures. That leaves Jofra to cope with four balls, which he does, not very comfortably.
England still trail by 115, and New Zealand are now firm favourites to win the series. Even CricViz puts them ahead, by 40 per cent to 32. On TimViz, it’s about 55-25.
73rd over: England 322-7 (Atkinson 9, Archer 0) “And just like that!” says Mike Daniels, clearly convinced that that was a leg-cutter.
“It’s almost a cutter,” says Mike Atherton.
“Scrambled seam,” says Woakes.
Whatever you call it, it’s working a treat. Foulkes, who is here only as a concession sub, now has 2-30 from 13 overs.
72nd over: England 320-6 (Brook 56, Atkinson 9) Atkinson sees off another over from Sears: no runs, no wickets, no alarms. The game may be taking a siesta.
“We’ve been here before many times,” says Guy Hornsby, “but this session is not just crucial for this England team but could tilt attitudes further towards the England management’s exit. We may have started the day aiming for 500+ but we’re struggling to reach a hundred less, depending on an incredible but mercurial batter and the tail. Skittled out for 350-odd by a persistent NZ attack, will the knives be (even further) out? Or do we need to chill and wait for the next two days to play out?”
71st over: England 319-6 (Brook 55, Atkinson 9) It’s still Foulkes, and he’s still finding movement. Atkinson, like Stokes earlier, finally gets the memo and replies to Brook’s customary single with one of his own, allowing Brook to take another.
“Foulkes isn’t ‘seaming it’,” says Mike Daniels, “he’s bowling genuine leg cutters. If he can pitch it up a bit more, as he did to Stokes, he’s in business.” Yes, the length was very good too. Stokes went at it hard and missed by a mile.
68th over: England 314-6 (Brook 51, Atkinson 8) Atkinson, facing Smith, plays his first ambitious shot, a well-timed clip for four.
England still trail by 124 and the New Zealanders go off for lunch delighted with their morning’s work. Led by Nathan Smith, they’ve taken four for 91, and as a bonus they’ve seen a dry pitch becoming thoroughly devious.
Cracks have opened, too in England’s batting, with neither Joe Root nor Jacob Bethell adding a run this morning, and Jamie Smith and Ben Stokes still at sixes and sevens. But Harry Brook is still there and where there’s Brook, there’s hope.