New Zealand v England: second men’s cricket test day two – live | New Zealand v England 2024

NOT OUT!

REVIEW! Southee thinks he has caught Bethell here. The judge doesn’t

2nd over: England 10-1 (Duckett 1, Bethell 1) And so ends the first hour of day two, two balls into the second over of the third innings of play. In that time we had 10.1 overs, 47 runs and six wickets. It’s fair to say the game goes on.

WICKED! Crawley c Conway b Henry 8 (England 9-1)

1st over: England 8-0 (Crawley 8, Duckett 0) Southee starts things off and Crawley smacks the first ball of the innings through cover for four! Then the second ball in the round goes the same way! He tries to do it again from the last over but picks out the fielder at cover.

The players are on their way back out for the start of England’s second half. A 155-run lead on this surface and two seamers in high spirits is a significant advantage. “I followed OBO and just turned on the live streaming to watch Atkinson’s hat trick. Beautiful double bluff that set the field to a short ball and completely foxed Tim Southee, a classy number 11,” writes Colum Fordham. “England really seem to have found two gems in Atkinson and Carse, never mind Wood and Archer. What a lopsided state of affairs with the Kiwis whitewashing India away and now in serious danger of going down in the second Test to England on their home turf. Who writes the scripts?”

It’s out! Gus Atkinson ends the half with a hat trick!

The TV referee checks it, but the players are already on their way off the pitch!

WICKED! Southee lbw b Atkinson 0 (New Zealand 125 all out)

WICKED! Henry c Duckett b Atkinson 0 (New Zealand 125-9)

WICKED! Smith b. Atkinson 14 (New Zealand 125-8)

34th over: New Zealand 121-7 (Phillips 16, Smith 10) The wizard tries to cast a spell and Woakes replaces Carse in the first bowling change of the day. It’s fair to say he doesn’t succeed immediately: Phillips pushes one back past him for four, then the next between gap and point with similar reward, Phillips doubling his score in two balls to become the ( joint) third- the highest scorer in the round.

33rd over: New Zealand 113-7 (Phillips 8, Smith 10) Atkinson continues and Phillips hits a point over four, nicely done. News of Wellington’s worrying weather hasn’t impressed everyone: “Currently following your reports in Co Mayo, in the dark as we are battered by the latest Atlantic storm to roll in!” writes Joe Corrigan. “Hard gale? Is that all? The Kiwis don’t know how lucky they are this weekend,” writes John Starbuck, who could be pretty much anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. If it helps, my water supply has been completely drained for hours.

32nd over: New Zealand 108-7 (Phillips 3, Smith 10) Carse’s first delivery goes back to Phillips and almost splits him in two. Later Smith comes off the mark for four, hit with very little power but obviously good timing and off it rolls past mid-off. It was clear that he was saving the power for the next one, which he clobbers over deep square leg for six!

31st over: New Zealand 97-7 (Phillips 2, Smith 0) Just the one from Atkinson’s above, most of which to be honest was ruled out while I was still thinking about the previous one.

30th over: New Zealand 96-7 (Phillips 1) A Goldilocks over from Carse: the first is too full= and Blundell punches through cover for a couple and the next is too short and Blundell pulls for four. Then he gets one exactly right.

WICKED! O’Rourke lbw b Carse 0 (New Zealand 96-7)

WICKED! Blundell b Carse 16 (New Zealand 95-6)

29th over: New Zealand 89-5 (Blundell 10, O’Rourke 0) A single to Blundell, who roars into double figures off his 16th ball, and three more to O’Rourke, who has now faced 25 not out. The New Zealand Met Service helpfully publish laundry drying times, which tomorrow they set at between one and three hours. Morning showers not useful; strong gale quite practical.

28th over: New Zealand 88-5 (Blundell 9, O’Rourke 0) A Carse maiden for O’Rourke, who is well beaten by a yorker that flies six inches wide of off stump. Meanwhile, Ian Rivett sends me tomorrow’s forecast from the New Zealand Met Service, which reads worryingly: “Brewers develop in the morning. North-westerly, increasing to severe gales in exposed places in the afternoon with gusts of 140 km/h.”

27th over: New Zealand 88-5 (Blundell 9, O’Rourke 0) Gus Atkinson for Blundell, whose focus is very much on defence. The best ball catches the inside edge and from there hits the batter in the thigh. There are a couple from the fifth.

“If every partnership gets us 20-30 which puts us pretty close to their score with hopefully some good seam bowling conditions this arvo for us,” says Nathan Smith. “Today is likely to see the last of the nail-friendly conditions before it flattens out.” Let’s see, shall we?

Lord David Gower on the television sounds rather crooked this morning. He will be positively gritty after a long day of commentary. The players are currently loitering on the edge of the border, getting ready for action.

“It’s obviously been said here that ‘you can’t beat Wellington on a good day’,” writes Mark Hollingsworth. “Well, it’s pretty perfect today, so let’s hope England can put a dent in the local theory…”

Ah, so you’re on earth, you lucky thing. Google tells me it’s cloudy in Wellington today, but the TV pictures suggest it’s bright sunshine.

How about Guardian & Observer NUJ chapel is on strike, most staff off work yesterday, so here’s PA Media on Harry Brook:

Hello world!