Key events
Here’s Ali. We’ll be back tonight/tomorrow for day three of this Test.
Ali Martin’s report will be along shortly. In the meantime, the pink-ball Test between Australia and India is beautifully poised.
Gus Atkinson chats to David Gower
The plan was to go hard at them this morning, myself and Carsey, and it worked out pretty well. Then the boys batted well and now we’ve got a healthy lead.
To get a hat-trick ends the year nicely. I never really thought about it unless I was at my mark after taking the first two wickets.
[On the double bluff to the last man Tim Southee] Yeah it was a good set-up. I tried to bowl a yorker, missed my length a bit but it was straight enough and still full so luckily it was hitting the stumps.
My rhythm wasn’t great yesterday. This morning I felt really good and it came out nicely.
I don’t know what the plan is for tomorrow to be honest. We’ll assess conditions and go from there.
[On Jacob Bethell] It’s a shame. He batted so beautifully and it would have been nice for him to get his first hundred. But he’ll take a lot from that; he was outstanding.
Stumps: England lead by 533 runs
76th over: England 373-5 (Root 73, Stokes 35) A low-key end to an outstanding day for England, who just need to dot the Is and cross the Ts to complete their first series win in New Zealand since 2007-08.
The damage was done before lunch, when Brydon Carse and Gus Atkinson blew New Zealand away for just 125. Atkinson continued his remarkable first year in Test cricket – 12-for on debut, century at Lord’s – by taking a hat-trick.
Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell put the game beyond New Zealand in a hurry before falling for 92 and 96 apiece. Bethell played beautifully again and was four runs away from becoming the first specialist batter to make his maiden first-class hundred while playing in a Test for England.
When a youngster misses out on a maiden hundred there is often a profound sadness – remember Jonny Bairstow v South Africa in 2012 – but Bethell’s dismissal, a shame though it was, just felt like a delay to the inevitable.
New Zealand never lost heart, and the luckless Will O’Rourke bowled superbly, but the second half of the day felt like a formality.
75th over: England 373-5 (Root 70, Stokes 33) Southee strays onto the pads of Root, who accepts the offer of a boundary with an efficient clip to fine leg. If England do bat on tomorrow he’ll have the chance to join Rahul Dravid on 36 Test hundreds. Only Tendulkar, Kallis, Ponting and Sangakkara have more.
Time for one more over. England’s lead is 528.
74th over: England 364-5 (Root 65, Stokes 30) While Stokes is trying to hit everything for four, and mistiming the majority, Root has only hit one boundary in the last 30 overs. He’s more than happy to collect ones and twos, and his overall scoring rate – 65 from 99 balls – is perfectly fine.
Stokes continues his peculiar slogathon by swatting a bouncer from Smith towards deep backward square. Ravindra loses it in the sun and the ball lands safely.
73rd over: England 361-5 (Root 64, Stokes 28) The last session has been pretty dull, though you can’t blame either team for that. The game progressed so quickly in the first five sessions that a change of tempo was inevitable at some stage.
With three, possibly four overs remaining tonight, England lead by 516.
72nd over: England 357-5 (Root 63, Stokes 26) Stokes is trying so hard to hit boundaries that he’s beginning to lose his shape. In fact his innings has almost ground to a halt; he has 26 from 13 balls.
There are only 17 minutes remaining so there won’t be a declaration tonight.
71st over: England 351-5 (Root 62, Stokes 22) Stokes swings Phillips over long on for six more, a sweet, almost languid golf shot. That takes the lead past 500 but Stokes is batting on and has 22 from 8 balls. Imagine if he did break McCullum’s record for the fastest Test hundred. Banter would never be the same again.
70th over: England 340-5 (Root 61, Stokes 12) Stokes charges his first ball and heaves it through midwicket for four, because that’s what people do in Test cricket these days.
Not content with that, Stokes launches his third ball into the crowd at midwicket, because etc. Perhaps Stokes wants a piece of Gilbert Jessop’s record – or even Brendon McCullum’s. More likely is that he’ll walk off when England’s lead hits 500.
WICKET! England 327-5 (Pope c Mitchell b Henry 10)
Ollie Pope fails when it matters least, edging Henry to Mitchell at slip. It was a nice catch, two-handed to his right as the ball started to dip.
Ben Stokes wants a piece of the pie; he’s coming out to bat with England leading by 482.
69th over: England 327-4 (Root 60, Pope 10) “Rising to the earlier observation on comms about the lack of films about cricket statisticians,” begins Brian Withington, “can I offer a few whimsical suggestions for the small hours:
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Arithmetic Now
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Scorecard
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The Good, The Bad and The Average
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Remains of the Over
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One Flew Over The Scoreboard
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Along Came a Leg-bye
“I’ll get my coat.”
An anorak, I trust.
68th over: England 322-4 (Root 58, Pope 7) Root pulls Henry smoothly for two, with Conway making a good rolling stop on the boundary. He has 58 from 88 balls; Pope, who apparently only comes out swinging when England are in trouble, has 7 from 22.
67th over: England 318-4 (Root 55, Pope 6) England take three more singles off Phillips. It’s rare that Ben Stokes’ England allow a game to drift like this, although given the match situation they can do as they please. England lead by 473.
66th over: England 315-4 (Root 53, Pope 5) The alternative for England, given there are still three days remaining, is to bat on tomorrow and set New Zealand a soul-crushing target of, ooh, let’s say 648. That’s not usually Ben Stokes’ style but he does like to confound expectations from time to time.
Henry continues his spell, an exercise in futility that he doesn’t really deserve after bowling so beautifully yesyerday morning. Two more singles from the over.
65th over: England 313-4 (Root 52, Pope 4) Two from Phillips’ over. It’s not entirely clear what England are up to here; there’s certainly no attempt to reach a lead of 500 as quickly as possible. They are currently 468 runs ahead.
BREAKING NEWS: JASPRIT BUMRAH IS JASPRIT BUMRAH
64th over: England 311-4 (Root 51, Pope 3) Ben Stokes is padded up so maybe a declaration isn’t imminent. There’s just under an hour left to play tonight/this morning/this afternoon/g’day.
It’s hard to know what to say as this passage of play is essentially filler. Erm, Ollie Pope doesn’t look frenetic?
63rd over: England 308-4 (Root 50, Pope 2) Root pulls Phillips for a single to reach his first fifty of the series and the 100th 50+ score of his Test career. Only Tendulkar, Kallis and Ponting have more. He’s made it look easy because that’s his gift.
WICKET! England 306-4 (Brook c O’Rourke b Phillips 55)
Harry Brook charges Glenn Phillips for the first and last time, slicing a lofted drive towards long off. O’Rourke runs round the boundary to take a good catch. Brook looks disappointed as he walks off but he’s had another brilliant game: 178 from 176 balls, including five sixes in that match-defining first innings.
62nd over: England 306-3 (Root 49, Brook 55) Brook tries to ramp Southee, misses and ends up doing a forward roll outside off stump. That’s normal as well.
Root glides Southee past short third to move from 45 to 49. Meanwhile there’s been an early wicket in Adelaide; I shan’t insult your intelligence by telling you who took it.
61st over: England 300-3 (Root 44, Brook 54) Phillips apologises after accidentally elbowing Brook in the grille, an apology that Brook accepts straight away. Root works a single to bring up the 300 in the 61st over, and nobody bats an eyelid. This mob has normalised scoring at five an over in whites.
“The infinite faith Stokes has invested in Zak Crawley,” begins Ben Barclay, “mirrors an infinite disregard for a legion of up and coming cricketers who never got a look.”
He was England’s best player against Australia and India, who they meet again this year, and in theory his game is perfectly suited to Australian pitches. If England thought there was a better option, they would pick him, surely.
Harry Brook by numbers
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63.25 Average in Tests
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68.80 Average when England lose the toss
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69.31 Average at No5
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74.77 Average in Test victories
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94.75 Average overseas
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112.50 Average in New Zealand
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171.00 Average in this series
60th over: England 295-3 (Root 41, Brook 52) Brook steers Henry over slip for four to reach the usual half-century from 56 balls. I don’t think Gilbert Jessop’s record for England’s fastest hundred (76 balls) is in danger today after all, but it’s been another fun innings from an extraordinary player.
Time for drinks.
59th over: England 286-3 (Root 39, Brook 45) Root takes Phillips off middle stump, reverse sweeping deftly for two. He’s enjoying the opportunity to stockpile some relatively easy runs and move closer to Sachin Tendulkar on the all-time list. Root is now within 600 of overtaking Ricky Ponting in second place. Tendulkar is a further 2550-odd away.
58th over: England 281-3 (Root 35, Brook 44)
57th over: England 278-3 (Root 33, Brook 43) Brook cuts Phillips impatiently for three to move into the forties. I wonder whether he might play normally until he gets to fifty and then looking forGilbert Jessop. Brook struck something like six sixes in nine balls off Adam Zampa in the summer so he could try something similar against Phillips. For now he has 43 from 46 balls, Root 33 from 59.
56th over: England 272-3 (Root 31, Brook 39) The lead is now a whopping 427.
Root is not out
Leg. And as Root was well outside the line there’s no need to check for the LBW.
In their understandable desperation, New Zealand have lost all three reviews.
New Zealand review for caught behind against Root!
Root suddenly jumped into position for the reverse ramp, and the ball brushed something on its way through to Blundell. Bat or leg?
55th over: England 271-3 (Root 31, Brook 38) Brook deliberately whirls Phillips over short fine leg for for more. It feels like Brook has played sedately yet he’s still going at almost a run a ball. Savour every boundary, because it hasn’t always this good watching England play Test cricket.